Review: Royal City #11

May 30, 2018

By Ben Snyder

Royal City #11 picks up exactly where it left off prior to its flashback arc; with Patrick and his recently discovered niece awaiting his estranged wife Greta as she joins him in the titular Royal City. It’s hard to give this entry a positive review when it leaves the reader in a state of perpetual malaise. But one hallucinatory character says it best near the end of the chapter, “That’s what this place does to you… leaves you in between.” That is why this chapter is successful; Jeff Lemire is totally in control of the story and flexing his artistic muscles by forcing the reader to join the characters in this semi-purgatorial rotting steel town.

Review: Royal City #10

February 21, 2018

By Ben Snyder

It feels odd to say that any Jeff Lemire story is a little to melancholic but that’s how Royal City #10 reads. The ominous radio frequencies, the general malaise of living in a small steel town, a monologue based on the woes of normalcy; all the staples of the series are present, but it doesn’t mesh as well as in previous entries. Maybe it’s because of the scene between Tommy and Ritchie’s girlfriend or maybe it’s the overwhelming melancholy that the script exudes- regardless Royal City #10 is probably one of the weaker entries in the series so far.

Review: Royal City #9

January 10, 2018

By Ben Snyder

As anyone who has read any of my Royal City reviews can attest, I am a huge fan of this series and Jeff Lemire’s combined writing and artwork. However, in Royal City #9 some facets are starting to become annoying. Whether it’s Lemire’s colors muddling the details in the environment or the general lack of anything interesting regarding Richie and Tara’s storyline, it seems that the weak points of this fantastic series are finally surfacing.

Best Comic Books of 2017 - #2

January 1, 2018

Welcome to the Comic Bastards end of the year list. Similar to our group reviews, each of the participating writers will be giving their picks for their best and also worst comics of 2017. Without further ado, here are our #2 picks for Best of 2017.

Click here to read #3 on the list!

Click here to read #4 on the list!

Click here to read #5 on the list!

Best Comic Books of 2017 - #5

January 1, 2018

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Review: Royal City #7

November 8, 2017

By Ben Snyder

In Royal City #7, Jeff Lemire finally begins to reveal his intentions with the character of Thomas Pike. Throughout the series so far, every member of the Pike clan pasted their expectations and hopes onto the lost soul that was Tommy. In entry #7, Lemire does a great job of showcasing this while also introducing Tommy’s new role as a broadcasting center of sorts.

Review: Royal City #6

October 11, 2017

By Ben Snyder

With Jeff Lemire’s second arc for Royal City, he sets up a fascinating introduction on the mystery that is Tommy from the original arc. Throughout the first five issues, the entire Pike family is haunted by their perceived version of Tommy; Tara by the baby brother she babysat and hoped the best for, Richie envisioned the brother he never got to spiral out and do drugs with; Patricia hallucinated the Tommy that took the cloth, but this is our first true glimpse into the true Tommy. The anxiety-ridden, possibly supernatural headache suffering teenager, filled with as much angst as anyone going through this period. And in this way, Lemire sets up what could be the most interesting arc the series could offer.

Review: Royal City vol. 1 - Next of Kin

September 27, 2017

By Justin McCarty

Jeff Lemire has made a name for himself telling personal stories about real people or at least relatable characters. His breakout hit was Essex County for Top Shelf, an Eisner award-winning graphic novel series. In Royal City, he has managed to circle back around to relatable archetypes that highlight the dysfunction in relationships. Lemire has written a haunting book that imagines what failed and lonely lives look like on a granular level. Next, of Kin collects the first five chapters chronicling the lives of the Pike family as they are forced to come to terms with the baggage weighing them down. Rendered in Lemire's trademark ink and watercolors, Royal City is full of atmosphere.

Review: Royal City #5

July 19, 2017

By Jonathan Edwards

Royal City #5 marks the end of the first story arc. Although, that is perhaps a loose definition. Because, though the stakes are higher this time around, I didn't find this issue to be distinctly more revelatory or terminating than any previous issue. I don't mean that as a bad thing either. I tore through this issue, enjoying every moment of my reading. And when I realized I was at the end, I only wanted more. But, it looks like we'll have to wait for October for the next arc, where Lemire sends us back to 1993 and the final days of Tommy Pike. However, I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's on the issue at hand. Namely, issue #5 of Royal City.

Review: Royal City #4

June 21, 2017

By Jonathan Edwards

I've been championing this book since pretty much the get go, and as far as I'm concerned, it's been doing a pretty good job of consistently living up to that hype. However, with the next issue marking the end of Royal City's introductory story arc, it seems that Lemire has slowed down his momentum a touch for this fourth installment. Mind you, it's by no means a bad issue. The priority is just different. Rather than following in the footsteps of the last couple issues by introducing new plot threads, we see those that already exist start to get pulled together. Although, Lemire still leaves us with the lingering question of who exactly is the young woman that Patrick keeps running into? And perhaps more importantly, how does she fit into what all's going on with Tommy and Royal City?

Review: Royal City #3

May 17, 2017

By Jonathan Edwards

I swear, with every new issue of Royal City, I read it, love it, and want more. Lemire does such a good job of setting and maintaining a tone that it hardly takes any effort to slip back into the same emotional space each month. Furthermore, he has a specific way of revealing information so that it informs about the characters and world while also generating further intrigue and follow-up questions. As far as I can tell, the "model" (if you want to call it that) tends to be something of a reversed order of events. We meet a character who's feeling a certain way or in a certain state of mind. Then, we slowly move backwards to find out the actual event that got them there. And after that, we uncover what led to that event. For example, Tara and her husband Steve have been at odds since the first issue, and with this one we finally learn what the cause of that was (I refuse to spoil it). And now, the question becomes "what else was going on before it that affected and led up to it?" It's really great stuff, and I can only presume it will all eventually lead back to finding out exactly what happened to Tommy Pike.

Review: Royal City #2

April 19, 2017

By Jonathan Edwards

There's something about Jeff Lemire and Royal City that makes it so damn engaging to read. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I know it's there, probably having to do with the sum of the parts over any individual aspect. It's the same type of dynamic that can happen when a comic incollected format versus issue to issue. Sometimes, the collection just adds another dimension. Consequently, that's exactly what I expect to happen with the eventual Royal City hardcovers and TPBs. Although, even if that does turn out to be the case, it won't dissuade from picking up and reading the individuals issues.

Review: Royal City #1

March 1, 2017

By Jonathan Edwards

Ah, Jeff Lemire. I'm sure that, for some, that's all they'll need to know to go out and pick this book up. After all, Lemire is both a talented artist and writer whose work is not dissimilar to that of Matt Kindt's (whom I talked about in my review of Dept. H #9). Although, I'm far more inclined to describe Kindt's work as being in the same vein as Lemire's than vice versa. Admittedly, I'm not quite as familiar with Lemire as I'd like to be. Most of what I've actually read from him has been the stuff he only wrote (a current example being Black Hammer, which has been awesome). I did pick up the first two "books" of A.D.: After Death, written by Scott Snyder with art by Lemire, but I've been waiting for the third and final one to come out so I can read them all back to back (a decision I back made when book 3 was still scheduled to come out in February). So when I saw Royal City listed on the spreadsheet, I jumped at the chance to read and review it.

Jeff Lemire's ROYAL CITY Interior Artwork Revealed

January 30, 2017

Press Release

Image Comics is pleased to reveal interior preview artwork from the forthcoming ROYAL CITY—a new ongoing monthly series written and illustrated by New York Times bestselling author Jeff Lemire (DESCENDER, Sweet Tooth) and set to launch in March 2017. First announced in Entertainment Weekly this Spring, ROYAL CITY promises to be a sprawling, serialized graphic novel that will chart the lives, loves, and losses of a troubled family and a vanishing town across three decades.