Sparko

Follow depressed ex-rock star Norman on his drug-addled, hallucinatory trip through an alternate London underground filled with deadly chihuahuas, ghostly carnivorous pets, frightening grandmas, and a Goblin King who resembles a horrifyingly wretched version of the Cure’s Robert Smith. While there, Norman meets a clever thief named Belle, foils an eerie plot involving a Prince Charles look-alike, and comes to terms with his girlfriend’s death.The scatterbrained, mad, and diabolical art, plot, and dialogue of this comic harken back to the older SLG hit comic books, Jhonen Vazquez’s Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, in which, yes, the protagonist is a lovable serial killer; Evan Dorkin’s Milk & Cheese, starring a milk carton and wedge of cheese that are alcoholic anarchists; and Roman Dirge’s Lenore, the Cute Little Dead Girl. It’s nice to know that the publisher is bringing back the good old days with this refreshingly bizarre and darkly creative graphic novel. --Candice Mack