Blog Archives

Koslowski, Rich – Three Fingers

Website

Three Fingers

Sure is tough to find pictures of some stuff online, for whatever reason. I did learn that Rich was the guy who did 3 Geeks, which is something that I’ve never read but have seen around the comic store. Riveting, I know, but I’m mentioning that because it always looked forgettable, and this graphic novel is anything but. It’s a story told like a documentary in comics form of the first cartoon star, but obviously all the names have been changed to prevent lawsuits and such. Don’t worry, you can tell who everybody is supposed to be. The title is based on the concept from the book that only cartoons with three fingers would be able to get work and the lengths that they all went to to get it. I don’t use the word “gripping” often in reviews, but there you have it, it was gripping. I was totally locked into the story from start to finish and thought it was a great concept. Anybody who is looking for a change from what the alternative comics scene has to offer should take a look at this, because I don’t think there’s anything like it out there. As for the art, the guy is a professional animator. How do you think it looked?

Koslowski, Rich – The King

Website

The King

For those of you have seen more than enough stories about Elvis Presley, you can go ahead and move onto another comic, as that is indeed what this one is all about. A washed up reporter gets called out to Las Vegas to do a story on an Elvis impersonator. This isn’t your average impersonator though, as this guy has taken the city by storm and is playing to sold out crowds everywhere. He chooses an old washed up reporter, one whose sole claim to fame is that he followed a lot of dead end Elvis stories for the Enquirer in the 80’s, for his first public interview. This reporter, Paul, comes at this from a cynical point of view, naturally, trying to figure out who this guy is and what he’s up to. There is, of course, always the possibility that this impersonator is the real deal. What follows is an attempt to talk to everybody close to “Elvis” and the man himself, hoping to get real answers on this phenomenon. It’s an interesting story with a great payoff, and Rich does a good job to keep the reader guessing when most of us have some idea where things are headed from the beginning. Oh, and did I mention
that this impersonator is claiming to be the new god of music? Like I said, an interesting story, and it looks great as Rich has done some professional animation work. My problem, and I want to make clear that it’s probably just me, is that I reached my saturation point with Elvis stories years ago. There’s only so many ways you can come at a story about an Elvis impersonator and still have anything remotely interesting to say on the subject. Granted, Elvis on his conscious decision to
become a music god is a new twist, but a lot the background elements here are familiar. The church of Elvis, the disgruntled losers who find themselves saved after seeing the man sing, a lot of it felt like it had been done before. It’s a good read, and you’d probably love it if you haven’t yet reached your saturation point with all things Elvis. If you’re anywhere near that point, however, it’s probably best to move along, or go back and check out his Three Fingers book. $19.95