King City

Although the first half of this hilarious,touching romp was published a few years ago, the rest of the story has lingeredin a rights limbo until now. Set in a lushly detailed city of the far future,catmaster Joe, assisted by his marvelously mutable drug-fueled cat Earthling J.Catingsworth the Third, faces an assortment of conflicts, from a mysterious andominous cult to a friend's desire to rescue an alien woman from a futuristicmob. Joe is in his element against mere eldritch horrors, mysterious femmefatales and the seedy criminal underworld, but finds himself less able to handlethe lingering presence of his former lover Anna, now romantically entangled witha troubled but amiable war veteran. In lesser hands, this would be a merecollection of Kirbyesque occult confrontations; although he can rock the cosmicwith the best of them and has a grand talent for the absurd, Graham has a keenappreciation for the personal, but his talent shines brightest when cast on themundane moments in his characters' lives. With the complete King City finallyavailable, Graham takes his place as one of the most inventive actioncartoonists working.