Trve Kvlt

Trve Kvlt #1-5

by Scott Bryan Wilson, Liana Kangas (Artist)

A strip mall heist, a satanic cult, and another lousy shift at a minimum wage job—grab a #2 with fries and settle in for a hilarious thrill ride! Marty Tarantella has been flipping burgers for 15 years. He has no kids, no hobbies, no love interests, and, essentially, no life. But what he does have is a plan to change everything. Years of watching the daily rhythms of the neighboring stores has given Marty the idea for a perfect heist, but when he accidentally steals a supernatural weapon from a cult full of violent lunatics, the resulting Satanic panic will be way above his minimum-wage pay grade. Nothing can prepare you for the coming of TRVE KVLT, a deliciously horrifying and hilarious new series from SCOTT BRYAN WILSON ( Gotham Nights, Pennyworth) and LIANA KANGAS (Star Wars Adventures, She Said Destroy, Razorblades).

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Horror, Fiction, Crime

137 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 1, 2023

About the author

Scott Bryan Wilson is the writer of TRVE KVLT and KILL MORE (both IDW Originals) and THE LEFT-HAND PATH and THREE DAYS TO DEATH IS HERE (both Dead Sky), as well as Pennyworth, Batman Annual, and Batman: Gotham Nights (DC), Savage Tales, Elvira, and Altered Carbon: One Life One Death (Dynamite), Star Trek: Waypoint (IDW), Shadowman (Valiant), and many other comic books and short stories.

Reviews

[Will · Rating 2 out of 5]

*2.5

Nice artwork, campy humor in both the writing and the art. But I just feel like the plot was pointless, which is fine, but it also had an extremely unsatisfying conclusion

[Ricky · Rating 4 out of 5]

So incredibly over the top in all the right ways. Marty and Allison are hilariously obsessed with their low-paying jobs to the point that a satanic cult flipping their world upside down couldn't distract them from the true perils of life; not fucking up the bun order.

I loved this because of how stupid it was but how it never took itself too seriously. Highly recommended.

[JonAnthony · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sexy Satan 😈🫦

[Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

not my jam

[sanaya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I supported this on Kickstarter and finally got my hands on the physical trade paperback last October at Comic Con (the creators are super cool)! This is a dumb, fun horror comedy-fest. Kinda felt like I was reading a Kevin Smith movie. There's no real...resolution to the plot which is a little frustrating but it fit in with the satire/comedy of it all I suppose. Overall, I enjoyed my time with it!

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trve Kvlt is like a cross between Beavis & Butt-Head and Kevin Smith's movie Clerks II, in all the best ways. Throw in a pinch of the Tenacious D movie The Pick of Destiny, too.

It all hinges on a case of mistaken identity by a Satanic cult, which is almost Shakespearean in its dramatic irony. The whole thing actually feels a bit like a play, with very little action and mostly dialogue. A lot of the pages alternate between two concurrent scenes (one page with Marty, the next page with Bernice, the next page back to Marty, etc.), which kind of breaks the flow a bit.

Where the book falls short is its tenuous ties to the metal music from which the title "trve kvlt" derives ("kvlt" being a term used by and about fans of the black metal subgenre of heavy metal). Marty makes a couple references to decidedly non-kvlt bands like Lita Ford and Queensrÿche. The Devil himself makes an appearance, although it's more akin to the aforementioned Pick of Destiny than a black metal album. So that disappointed me a bit. This won't bother the vast majority of readers, though.

I was pleasantly surprised to see how many of the people involved with this comic have done work for Vault. In particular, the illustrator, Liana Kangas, also illustrated She Said Destroy: Vol. 1.

Overall, an enjoyable romp that doesn't aspire to anything more than that.

[Rick Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trve Kvlt is a comedic crime thriller that dabbles in occult rituals, but also pokes at the complexities of minimum wage careers. Marty runs the grill at a fast food burger joint but struggles to make enough money and to keep any semblance of a social life. Realizing he needs money fast to get out of his rut, Marty begins to stick up the nearby stores but inadvertently rips off a Satanic cult that now blows back on him. There is a ton of witty humor packed into Trve Kvlt that keeps things moving, though I did find a significant chunk of the dialogue got to be ponderous to get through. When font sizes have to change to accommodate a word count in speech bubbles you know that some more editing was necessary. The overall story was fun, but five issues of prolonged dialogue made the read feel twice as long as it needed to be. The artwork by Liana Kangas is very nice throughout, and adds to the doldrum of dead-end jobs while also playing up to the eclectic sequences around the Satanic panic stuff. Overall, a pretty decent comic.

[Chad · Rating 1 out of 5]

Who would have thought a comic about fast food workers and Satanists could be this boring but this creative team has managed it. Everyone in this book suffers from verbal diarrhea. The dialogue just drones on and on, page after page. This one character is all gung ho about working at fast food. She loves it and loves to talk about it for pages and pages. There's a ton of reused panels to make the book even more monotonous. Nothing like seeing the same panel repeated 9 times while a character talks about the technical details of working at a religious themed McDonalds ad nauseum. This was just an all around fail for me.

[Suzanne Berget · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was so dumb and fun!

[Samuel Aldridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of a wild ride, enjoyed the artwork/color palette for this one a lot. Overall, a fun read…if that’s possible given the subject.

[Carina Stopenski · Rating 3 out of 5]

who knew a satanic cult and a burger joint would have such close similarities? smart, funny, and action packed. it honestly went a bit fast for my taste and i wanted more of these characters!

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the most bizarre books I’ve read in a while. Answers the question, what if Scientology was a satanist cult, and Chick-fil-A was a burger restaurant.

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

The schtick gets old quick, at half the length it would have been entertaining. Also, there are so many questions and holes that it's impossible to suspend disbelief and fully get into the tale.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can I say? I love weird books.

This is clerks meets breaking bad meets a satanic cult. But with burgers, fries, heavy metal and great characters.

[Carol-Ann Godbout · Rating 3 out of 5]

Art style 5/10
Story 5/10

[Vanessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this as much as I could like a comic volume that I forgot I was reading after three issues. The characters are good. It gives very Kevin Smith vibes. I like the art a lot. Liana Kangas is quickly becoming one of my favorites.

[Alana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh that was FUN