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Kane
Kane Volume 2: Rabbit Hunt
It's a bad day for Mister Floppsie Whoppsie, New Eden's self-styled Rabbit for Hire. The freelance rabbit business isn't going as well as it should. He's hung over. The rent's due. There's a knock at the door and a gun-wielding homicidal maniac barges into the room. That's when things start to go downhill!
144 pages, Paperback
First published May 26, 2004
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26 people want to read
About the author
Paul Grist
196 books19 followersPaul Grist is a British comic book creator, noted for his hard-boiled police series Kane and his unorthodox superhero series Jack Staff.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 11, 2023
Starts with a bang with a brilliant, for-the-ages silent issue and continues strong with a great "Rashomon"-esque look at a police bust gone wrong. Probably the thing that ages the worst here is a (fairly spot-on) parody of Frank Miller's "Sin City" (which was omnipresent at the time this was first published, and which many people foolishly thought Paul Grist's work was a cheap imitation of... Not at all the case in my opinion), but honestly even that works just fine and is pretty funny overall. Again Grist is a master of balancing his crime thriller on the fine line between serious and silly. Great stuff.
May 28, 2020
#ThrowbackThursday - Back in the '90s, I used to write comic book reviews for the website of a now-defunct comic book retailer called Rockem Sockem Comics. From the February 1997 edition with a theme of "Crime fighters":
GOOD COP, BAD COPS
KANE #1-13 (Dancing Elephant)
While cop series are a staple of television, they are pretty rare nowadays in the world of comics. It just so happens, that one of the few cop books available is one of the best comics being published today.
The title character, Kane, is a detective in the New Eden Police Department. A pariah, he is hated by almost everyone in the department for killing his last partner while trying to arrest him for being corrupt. Kane has betrayed the brotherhood of cops by taking down one of his own. Also making him an outcast is the fact that he has a rigid sense of morals while most of the NEPD are either corrupt, morally bankrupt or ethically challenged. Embittered and aloof, Kane is slow to accept potential allies such as his new partner, the competent Kate Felix, and his captain, the fair and just John Dexter.
Kane has faced many challenges so far. Issue #1 has a kidnaping which turns into a hostage situation. Issues #2-3 have a mad bomber terrorizing the city. Mob surveillance at a restaurant is interrupted by an insane robber in #4. Issue #6 features a cool twist on RASHOMON: we get to watch each character intentionally lie to Internal Affairs about events that occurred during a drug bust where the money has gone missing. In #8, Kane has to talk the star of an old sixties super-hero TV show off the ledge of a tall building. The shooting of mob boss Oscar Darke and its consequences are covered in #9-12.
The series is imbued with a wicked sense of humor to offset the serious aspects. Each issue generally has a comic relief sub-plot. The best ones feature Mister Floppsie Whoppsie, a street performer who wears a pink bunny costume. After one too many comparisons to Bugs Bunny he goes over the edge, declaring, "I'm my own rabbit." His hijinks include making a jailbreak, taking the mayor hostage, and being on the run from loan sharks. Issue #3 features a running gag about a commercial for an indestructible safe which the makers have allowed to be stolen. A hidden camera follows the thieves' attempts to break it open while another camera follows a spokesman to the police station to report the theft. The payoff is great! For SIN CITY fans, issue #7 is a parody of Marv and a tribute to Frank Miller.
The creator of KANE is Paul Grist. From England, Grist is probably not too well known here in the U.S.. He did the art on GRENDEL: THE DEVIL IN OUR MIDST. He collaborated with writer Grant Morrison on a little book called ST. SWITHINS DAY. He did a couple of books about another character he created called Burglar Bill, which was mostly light-hearted stuff. It is with KANE that Grist has become a major writer/artist in my gradebook. His dialogue is terse and witty. His art is cartoony enough to pull off the humorous bits, but is dark enough to match the overall tone of the series.
KANE makes use of many challenging storytelling techniques. Most issues feature two storylines. The first is a self-contained story set in the present and usually lasting only one or two issues. The other is an ongoing unravelling of the past events surrounding Kane's partner's death and its aftermath. Via a series of flashbacks interspersed throughout each issue, Grist keeps adding twists and turns to what at first seemed to be a straightforward event. The transition between the two storylines, as well as scenes within each storyline, can be difficult to track unless you pay close attention. (Grist has provided one visual cue to aid the reader: the pages featuring flashbacks have a wide black bar running vertically down them.) Mob boss Oscar Darke speaks in a slurred mumble which the reader is forced to decipher. While Grist makes each character distinctive, he does not always label or identify them directly in each issue. His characters are not in the habit of giving the awkward expository background speeches such as Chris Claremont used to spoonfeed the readers of UNCANNY X-MEN. Grist expects you to keep track of characters and plots from issue to issue. And he makes it well worth the effort.
His current issues are good ones with which to join the series, as they are each highlighting a different character from the series. For instance, issue #13 follows a veteran and a rookie through a typical night of graft and brutality. Grist puts an interesting spin on the story by fixing the point of view in the back seat of their squad car, allowing us to see mostly the back of their heads and the view through the windshield. It's a hard concept to pull off successfully, but Grist manages it easily.
Indeed, the same could be said of the entire series. Even on television, where there are more series featuring cops, the stories often aren't done very well. With the exception of "Hill Street Blues" and a few others, most simply result in a lost hour. Grist, meanwhile, regularly rewards the comic book reader with a very generous package: 30-32 pages of perfectly amazing story and art.
Grade: A
GOOD COP, BAD COPS
KANE #1-13 (Dancing Elephant)
While cop series are a staple of television, they are pretty rare nowadays in the world of comics. It just so happens, that one of the few cop books available is one of the best comics being published today.
The title character, Kane, is a detective in the New Eden Police Department. A pariah, he is hated by almost everyone in the department for killing his last partner while trying to arrest him for being corrupt. Kane has betrayed the brotherhood of cops by taking down one of his own. Also making him an outcast is the fact that he has a rigid sense of morals while most of the NEPD are either corrupt, morally bankrupt or ethically challenged. Embittered and aloof, Kane is slow to accept potential allies such as his new partner, the competent Kate Felix, and his captain, the fair and just John Dexter.
Kane has faced many challenges so far. Issue #1 has a kidnaping which turns into a hostage situation. Issues #2-3 have a mad bomber terrorizing the city. Mob surveillance at a restaurant is interrupted by an insane robber in #4. Issue #6 features a cool twist on RASHOMON: we get to watch each character intentionally lie to Internal Affairs about events that occurred during a drug bust where the money has gone missing. In #8, Kane has to talk the star of an old sixties super-hero TV show off the ledge of a tall building. The shooting of mob boss Oscar Darke and its consequences are covered in #9-12.
The series is imbued with a wicked sense of humor to offset the serious aspects. Each issue generally has a comic relief sub-plot. The best ones feature Mister Floppsie Whoppsie, a street performer who wears a pink bunny costume. After one too many comparisons to Bugs Bunny he goes over the edge, declaring, "I'm my own rabbit." His hijinks include making a jailbreak, taking the mayor hostage, and being on the run from loan sharks. Issue #3 features a running gag about a commercial for an indestructible safe which the makers have allowed to be stolen. A hidden camera follows the thieves' attempts to break it open while another camera follows a spokesman to the police station to report the theft. The payoff is great! For SIN CITY fans, issue #7 is a parody of Marv and a tribute to Frank Miller.
The creator of KANE is Paul Grist. From England, Grist is probably not too well known here in the U.S.. He did the art on GRENDEL: THE DEVIL IN OUR MIDST. He collaborated with writer Grant Morrison on a little book called ST. SWITHINS DAY. He did a couple of books about another character he created called Burglar Bill, which was mostly light-hearted stuff. It is with KANE that Grist has become a major writer/artist in my gradebook. His dialogue is terse and witty. His art is cartoony enough to pull off the humorous bits, but is dark enough to match the overall tone of the series.
KANE makes use of many challenging storytelling techniques. Most issues feature two storylines. The first is a self-contained story set in the present and usually lasting only one or two issues. The other is an ongoing unravelling of the past events surrounding Kane's partner's death and its aftermath. Via a series of flashbacks interspersed throughout each issue, Grist keeps adding twists and turns to what at first seemed to be a straightforward event. The transition between the two storylines, as well as scenes within each storyline, can be difficult to track unless you pay close attention. (Grist has provided one visual cue to aid the reader: the pages featuring flashbacks have a wide black bar running vertically down them.) Mob boss Oscar Darke speaks in a slurred mumble which the reader is forced to decipher. While Grist makes each character distinctive, he does not always label or identify them directly in each issue. His characters are not in the habit of giving the awkward expository background speeches such as Chris Claremont used to spoonfeed the readers of UNCANNY X-MEN. Grist expects you to keep track of characters and plots from issue to issue. And he makes it well worth the effort.
His current issues are good ones with which to join the series, as they are each highlighting a different character from the series. For instance, issue #13 follows a veteran and a rookie through a typical night of graft and brutality. Grist puts an interesting spin on the story by fixing the point of view in the back seat of their squad car, allowing us to see mostly the back of their heads and the view through the windshield. It's a hard concept to pull off successfully, but Grist manages it easily.
Indeed, the same could be said of the entire series. Even on television, where there are more series featuring cops, the stories often aren't done very well. With the exception of "Hill Street Blues" and a few others, most simply result in a lost hour. Grist, meanwhile, regularly rewards the comic book reader with a very generous package: 30-32 pages of perfectly amazing story and art.
Grade: A
September 5, 2014
The main appeal of this book is Paul Grist's deceptively simple artwork - I'm always amazed at how much he gets out of stripping all the details out of everything. The world is boiled down to the essentials to get the story across (which includes a man in a bunny costume, and a character inspired by Marv from "Sin City"), and it's a quick, fun read. And I never get tired of looking at what Paul Grist gets out of solid black areas and his own hand-lettering.
June 9, 2021
Grist just gets stronger going into this second book. Such strong storytelling skills, and the world he's made goes from slapstick to serious very smoothly. Inspiring how much Grist gets out of so little detail.
August 3, 2021
Some of the clearest, and most innovative cartooning I’ve ever seen. Paul Grist has a mastery over the medium, taking influences from a ton of different places and meshing them together into a style that’s all his own. From a pure formalist standpoint, I think this book is a masterpiece.
March 26, 2023
Grist is really warming up to his material, and giving more background to the longer story
February 12, 2009
The story of Kane and New Eden continues to be developed. There's more insight into what came before, even while the story moves forward.
The first issue in the collection is done without dialogue and works well. It's a reasonably complicated, self-contained story that Grist tells well relying only upon his art.
This collection also introduces Frankie, a parody of Frank Miller's Marv. This is one of the times where Grist's tendency towards parody threatens to disrupt the tone he's trying to establish. However, because of my fondness for both Frankie and Marv, it worked for me.
The first issue in the collection is done without dialogue and works well. It's a reasonably complicated, self-contained story that Grist tells well relying only upon his art.
This collection also introduces Frankie, a parody of Frank Miller's Marv. This is one of the times where Grist's tendency towards parody threatens to disrupt the tone he's trying to establish. However, because of my fondness for both Frankie and Marv, it worked for me.
September 30, 2015
Kanen toinen albumi jatkaa siitä, mihin viimeksi jäätiin. Albumi alkaa pitkällä sanattomalla jaksolla, joka hämäsi allekirjoittanutta hieman. Tarina tuntui muutenkin pompsahtelevan suuntaan ja toiseen, vaikkakin kyllä siellä jossain se punainen lankakin ilmeisesti vilahti. Liikaa sillisalaattia ja saman näköisiä hahmoja minun makuuni, vaikka oli ihan lukemisen väärti.
February 4, 2016
Acá se fueron un poco más para la locura y la sátira, sin perder los elementos del tomo previo.
Hasta hay detallitos que son ligeros homenajes a otras obras, como una suerte de Marv de Sin City y un Adam West. Y 32 páginas de acción vibrante sin dialogo o narración. Un lujo.
Un tomo que sube múchisimo la apuesta y muestra que Paul Grist era un autor integral con todas las letras.
Hasta hay detallitos que son ligeros homenajes a otras obras, como una suerte de Marv de Sin City y un Adam West. Y 32 páginas de acción vibrante sin dialogo o narración. Un lujo.
Un tomo que sube múchisimo la apuesta y muestra que Paul Grist era un autor integral con todas las letras.
May 21, 2012
Paul Grist's KANE is a clever and compelling little crime drama. This one features a man in a rabbit suit on the run from a giant killer and a bank robbery gone sideways. Fun stuff.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews