Comic World News

April 22, 2008:
CWN and the Grand Finale! -

February 4, 2008:
In Conclusion - David ends his CWN run with Tezuka's MW from Vertical

February 2, 2008:
Acting Like You Have Nothing to Prove -

February 2, 2008:
The Shoegazer Returns - A New Year Begins, And Our Narrator Makes A Pledge

January 30, 2008:
Tim's Reviews -

September 13, 2007:
Wizard World Chicago Loot, Part One - Stykman, Empty Chamber, the Ztarian Saga, and yes, Little Bunny Foo Foo

February 15, 2007:
I Come Not to Bury Nick Cage... - But to mourn the death of my punchline

November 20, 2006:
The End - Rich's last Chicks & Romance

November 8, 2006:
Joann Sfar's Klezmer - And a Front Racks Hiatus

October 4, 2006:
This Month's Guest: Dave Gibbons - From the pages of Elephantmen!

September 18, 2006:
Back in Berlin - or How I spent my summer

July 29, 2006:
KICKING UP A STORM - An interview with David Lloyd

June 19, 2006:
You Ain't Never Had A Friend Like Me. - Graeme looks at Spidey's "genies"

December 18, 2005:
Disappointed - Sad news for fans of Busiek's CONAN, Stephen King, and others

December 13, 2004:
JUSTICE UNPLUGGED 2 at last !!! - By Fabrice Sapolsky & Xavier Fournier

December 2, 2004:
THE TWELFTH AND FINAL STEP - Say it ain't so, Dan.

November 23, 2004:
The importance of editing -

September 29, 2004:
Mystery and Conundrum indeed! - Where in the world is Jason Pomerantz?

September 13, 2004:
Hello and Goodbye and Hello Again - Change is in the air at CWN and it smells sweet.

August 12, 2004:
The Rise of the Web Toon - New Business Model or Dumb Luck?

July 30, 2004:
The Name Says it All... - Spin Doctors revamp Boomerang.

July 27, 2004:
Bigger Isn't Always Better -

June 8, 2004:
Pre-emptive Strike: MoCCA Arts Festival - Looking forward to the con, rather than looking back at it

The Layer Method
Our top Secret time-saving technique for creating and merging balloons and tails in Illustrator.

Friday, September 3, 2010

The King

Review by Michael May

Written by Rich Koslowski
Illustrated by Rich Koslowski

Published by Top Shelf
$19.95

There�s a theory that drives a lot of fantasy fiction that suggests that the lifespan of a deity is directly related to the number of people who believe in him or her. I�m pretty sure that Xena and Hercules used it, and I know that the Merlin mini-series with Sam Neill did, but there have been others too. It�s a cool explanation for why folks like Zeus and Thor and faeries aren�t still active in the world. No one believes in them anymore.

Elvis seemed to hold to this explanation too. He just stated it in different terms. The most famous quote is, �When they quit talking about you, you�re dead,� but he also said that �the audience is the other half of me.� Different ways of saying the same thing. Elvis knew that his existence was intimately connected to popular culture�s regard for him. But does that make him a deity or just really, really insecure?

Rich Koslowski speculates about what it would be like if it were the former. In between chapters of The King, he presents those and other statements from Elvis, as well as quotes from guys like Sam Phillips, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and even John Lennon that talk about Elvis in religious terms. People loved the King. People worshiped the King. And if you�ll remember, people couldn�t believe it when he died.

You don�t see it so much anymore, but for years after his death there were Elvis sightings. This guy saw him working at K-Mart; that lady saw him getting some gas at a filling station. The tabloids were full of those stories. If the lifespan of a deity is directly related to the number of people who believe in him, what would all of that continued belief in the King do for his lifespan? That�s the question that drives Koslowki�s book.

The story follows a former tabloid reporter named Paul Erfurt as he investigates the claim of a masked Elvis �impersonator� to be the returned King. This new King has a lot of people convinced that he�s the real deal and reporters are clamoring for interviews, but the King hand-selects Erfurt precisely because of the journalist�s past work reporting Elvis sightings. I won�t spoil the mystery by revealing what he learns, but it�s a fascinating journey to watch Erfurt on.

For one thing, Erfurt learns the importance of the mystery itself to what the King�s trying to accomplish. In a story about belief, mystery is crucial. Or to put it in religious terms, faith needs doubt. If you know something to be true, faith isn�t a factor anymore. That�s why Koslowski�s King wears a helmet that covers his face. He needs to keep people guessing; keep them talking. If he�s truly the god of Music as he claims, he�s made stronger by people trying to unravel the mystery around him. �When they quit talking about you, you�re dead.�

Faith/belief is a potent topic and one that needs to be considered carefully before trying to write a story about it. It would be so easy to alienate readers by using one�s own beliefs to fuel the story. Koslowski masterfully works around that with his Elvis metaphor. Most people don�t believe that Elvis is still alive, but that�s exactly why everyone can relate to and learn from Koslowski�s message in The King. We�re all on the same page as the story opens. We�re all doubters. And as the story progresses and Erfurt unravels the mystery, we�re forced to decide what we believe. And if that process makes us think about beliefs other than a fictional Elvis impersonator, I don�t think that�s unintended.

The sleaziness of the book�s style is also intentional. Koslowski�s art captures the gaudy trashiness of not only Las Vegas, where the story takes place, but also of the fans with whom the King surrounds himself. From their poofy, out-of-date hairstyles to their big-rimmed, tinted shades, the King�s entourage, Erfurt included, is made up of the epitome of folks with nowhere else to turn. Just the kind of people who need to believe in something.