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Wrestle Heist #1-5
Wrestle Heist
A no-holds-barred heist caper packed with body slams and backstabs for fans of over-the-top action!
After being crippled by a shady wrestling promoter, a former pro wrestler gathers a team of others wronged in the ring to rob the promoter blind during the biggest wrestling event of the year! From the outrageous, action-packed mind of multi-time Eisner nominee KYLE STARKS (Peacemaker Tries Hard, Sexcastle, I Hate This Place), with eye-popping colors by VLADIMIR POPOV (Where Monsters Lie, Fearscape).
Collects WRESTLE HEIST #1-5 + a brand new, never-before-seen six page comic story!
After being crippled by a shady wrestling promoter, a former pro wrestler gathers a team of others wronged in the ring to rob the promoter blind during the biggest wrestling event of the year! From the outrageous, action-packed mind of multi-time Eisner nominee KYLE STARKS (Peacemaker Tries Hard, Sexcastle, I Hate This Place), with eye-popping colors by VLADIMIR POPOV (Where Monsters Lie, Fearscape).
Collects WRESTLE HEIST #1-5 + a brand new, never-before-seen six page comic story!
- GenresComicsGraphic Novels
152 pages, Paperback
Published August 4, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
August 7, 2026
I didn't grow up with wrestling, and I only recently picked it up in a scholarly fashion to prepare for an RPG game with some friends, but something about this comic called to me, and so I elected to order it when it came out in TPB format. Wrestle Heist , from what I know of wrestling history and culture (thanks in part to David Shoemaker's excellent monograph The Squared Circle: Life, Death, and Professional Wrestling), is a fun and compelling lampoon of the historic toxicity of particular wrestling promotions and their often petty and violent owners that to someone not in the know may feel like a somewhat ridiculous work of fiction, but to those that know what goes on behind the veil of Kayfabe, is horrifically true-to-life. The characters and their motivations are very well fleshed out, but in a rapid-fire way that leaves room for the A-plot instead of having an issue to introduce each character followed by the whole affair of the heist being rolled out in the climax.
Though the plot is wrapped up in a way that doesn't leave much room for a sequel, if there ever is to be a Wrestle Heist 2 , I'll certainly be picking it up as it comes out from my local comic shop.
Though the plot is wrapped up in a way that doesn't leave much room for a sequel, if there ever is to be a Wrestle Heist 2 , I'll certainly be picking it up as it comes out from my local comic shop.
August 25, 2026
Wrestle Heist collects issues 1-5 of the Image Comics series written and drawn by Kyle Starks with colors by Vladimir Popov.
On his last night with the wrestling company where he spent his entire career, “Fortune’s Son” Sterling Steele will put over world champion “The Alpha Male” Guy Grudges in one final title match at the biggest show of the year. Steele has signed with the rival promotion with the promise of more money and a world championship run. But evil owner and promoter Buddy Hansen has different plans and orders Grudges to legitimately injure Steele in their bout. With doctor’s orders that any additional injury could cost Steele with his life, he has no option but to hang up his boots for good. But Steel has one mission left in his life: to get revenge on former boss Buddy Hansen and steal his house money on their biggest attendance night of the year.
As a wrestling fan this was so incredibly fun. It’s a throwback to 80s and early 90s wrestling with many of the characters being very obvious homages to legendary wrestlers and promoters such as The Undertaker, Ultimate Warrior, Vince McMahon, Paul Heyman, and more. The characters and their interactions with each other are both hilarious and heartfelt. And then to top it off, the actual heist is a lot of fun!
The art is extremely cartoony which perfectly captured the wild and wacky cast of characters and the world that is professional wrestling. You can really tell the creators have a love and respect for wrestling. Kyle Stark’s Wrestle Heist is the newest entry of a surprisingly amazing subgenre of wrestling comics. It’s crazy how well the medium of wrestling and comics mix. Wrestling fans should definitely seek this book out!
On his last night with the wrestling company where he spent his entire career, “Fortune’s Son” Sterling Steele will put over world champion “The Alpha Male” Guy Grudges in one final title match at the biggest show of the year. Steele has signed with the rival promotion with the promise of more money and a world championship run. But evil owner and promoter Buddy Hansen has different plans and orders Grudges to legitimately injure Steele in their bout. With doctor’s orders that any additional injury could cost Steele with his life, he has no option but to hang up his boots for good. But Steel has one mission left in his life: to get revenge on former boss Buddy Hansen and steal his house money on their biggest attendance night of the year.
As a wrestling fan this was so incredibly fun. It’s a throwback to 80s and early 90s wrestling with many of the characters being very obvious homages to legendary wrestlers and promoters such as The Undertaker, Ultimate Warrior, Vince McMahon, Paul Heyman, and more. The characters and their interactions with each other are both hilarious and heartfelt. And then to top it off, the actual heist is a lot of fun!
The art is extremely cartoony which perfectly captured the wild and wacky cast of characters and the world that is professional wrestling. You can really tell the creators have a love and respect for wrestling. Kyle Stark’s Wrestle Heist is the newest entry of a surprisingly amazing subgenre of wrestling comics. It’s crazy how well the medium of wrestling and comics mix. Wrestling fans should definitely seek this book out!
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Wrestle Heist marks
Kyle Starks
’ return to handling both writing and drawing, and it's one that seems all too personal as he dives head first int the world of professional wrestling. Wrestle Heist is filled with drama, comedy, and plenty of body slams. The unique and outrageous comic you have been looking for.
After being crippled by a shady wrestling promoter, a former pro wrestler gathers a team of others wronged in the ring to rob the promoter blind during the biggest wrestling event of the year!
Over the years I have become more and more a fan of Starks' comics, but in recent years it's his horror writing skills that have been the highlight for me. But there is something special seeing him return to his comedy roots, as well as getting behind the illustrations, that made Wrestle Heist something fantastic and so much fun. Kyle's fresh style of comedy mixed with his unique illustrations made this series what it is.
It's no secret that wrestling and comics have long gone hand-in-hand, a venn diagram would be closer to a circle when it comes to the crossover of the fandoms. Not to mention the number of comics that feature the sport of wrestling. While some have found great success, I am looking at you Do A Powerbomb!, and others not so much (no I am not going to list any, nice try). But a comic that blends wrestling with an incredible heist story is something that is both fresh and unique. A story that revolves around wrestling, but ultimately a tale of revenge, all while being darkly humorous.
The humorous heist story is something special, but it's Starks' illustration style that made it even better. His illustrations naturally have a playful and comedic touch that makes it easy to see why it works so well with this story. It also shows why when he dove into the horror side of things he focused mainly on writing, as his art style might not have hit as hard. But his return to the drawing board is something that Wrestle Heist ultimately deserved. The exaggerated characters and expressive features gave the story a lively and playful tone, complemented perfectly by the popping colors by Vlad Popov .
Wrestle Heist feels like a love letter to both longtime pro wrestling fans, but also those who just love a humorous caper. Kyle Starks brings a revenge-driven heist to the world of pro wrestling like no one else can and does it with such fun. You can tell this story was created by someone who has a passion not only for wrestling but the medium of comics. I enjoy reading a ton of various genres of comics, but when it came to Wrestle Heist it was just plain fun to go along for the ride.
The collected edition of Wrestle Heist is available now at your local comic shops and bookstores everywhere on August 4, 2026 from Image Comics.
After being crippled by a shady wrestling promoter, a former pro wrestler gathers a team of others wronged in the ring to rob the promoter blind during the biggest wrestling event of the year!
Over the years I have become more and more a fan of Starks' comics, but in recent years it's his horror writing skills that have been the highlight for me. But there is something special seeing him return to his comedy roots, as well as getting behind the illustrations, that made Wrestle Heist something fantastic and so much fun. Kyle's fresh style of comedy mixed with his unique illustrations made this series what it is.
It's no secret that wrestling and comics have long gone hand-in-hand, a venn diagram would be closer to a circle when it comes to the crossover of the fandoms. Not to mention the number of comics that feature the sport of wrestling. While some have found great success, I am looking at you Do A Powerbomb!, and others not so much (no I am not going to list any, nice try). But a comic that blends wrestling with an incredible heist story is something that is both fresh and unique. A story that revolves around wrestling, but ultimately a tale of revenge, all while being darkly humorous.
The humorous heist story is something special, but it's Starks' illustration style that made it even better. His illustrations naturally have a playful and comedic touch that makes it easy to see why it works so well with this story. It also shows why when he dove into the horror side of things he focused mainly on writing, as his art style might not have hit as hard. But his return to the drawing board is something that Wrestle Heist ultimately deserved. The exaggerated characters and expressive features gave the story a lively and playful tone, complemented perfectly by the popping colors by Vlad Popov .
Wrestle Heist feels like a love letter to both longtime pro wrestling fans, but also those who just love a humorous caper. Kyle Starks brings a revenge-driven heist to the world of pro wrestling like no one else can and does it with such fun. You can tell this story was created by someone who has a passion not only for wrestling but the medium of comics. I enjoy reading a ton of various genres of comics, but when it came to Wrestle Heist it was just plain fun to go along for the ride.
The collected edition of Wrestle Heist is available now at your local comic shops and bookstores everywhere on August 4, 2026 from Image Comics.
Read
July 15, 2026I always say that wrestling is the one sport I could see myself getting into, because it's so close to comics anyway*. And I love a bit of Kyle Starks, especially solo (though not only solo: Peacemaker Tries Hard! was so good it even made me like the Red Bee). So this should have been an incredibly easy sell, but at least to start with I found it surprisingly hard going. Partly, it was that it all felt too real. Even if you're never read any solo Starks, that cover gives you a pretty good idea of how cartoony his art is, and for something like eighties action movie pastiche Sexcastle, that was perfect. But the villain here, wrestling promoter Buddy Hansen...with the racism, the coercive control, the nearly crippling the hero and ending his career, somehow he tips over the line separating a pantomime villain who's fun to hiss at from the all too real bad people who, much like Hansen, do very well out of that in the modern world. Still, once we're past the halfway point and the crew of wrestlers Hansen has screwed over are assembled and ready to get some of his ill-gotten fortune, the mood settles back into something more fun, all ludicrous feats of strength, athleticism and deviousness, not to mention hard-won insights like "a wise man should never argue with sound logic or a troupe of determined wrestlers". Though the biggest laughs for me still came in the backmatter, especially The Ten Worst Wrestling Gimmicks Of All Time (which, to give you some idea of the bar, doesn't even find room for the mercifully marginal character Clown Gonorrhoea).
*This is defining 'getting into' as caring about the results, I guess; I like a cricket match as part of an English rural scene, so long as everyone is in proper whites rather than hideous colourful pyjamas, but I'm no more engaged in the specifics than I want to know the name of every sheep in the next field over.
(Netgalley ARC)
*This is defining 'getting into' as caring about the results, I guess; I like a cricket match as part of an English rural scene, so long as everyone is in proper whites rather than hideous colourful pyjamas, but I'm no more engaged in the specifics than I want to know the name of every sheep in the next field over.
(Netgalley ARC)
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Sterling Steele is carrying a grudge. He was just about ready to leave his sleazy producer for a better wrestling job, and made the mistake of letting Buddy know. Buddy arranged for the last fight to have Sterling get his neck broken. Although he recovers, that is the end of his career.
OK. I started reading this and thought that Sterling was just a crybaby. But as I read we learn about more and more people that have had their lives ruined, or died because of Buddy. Thus the need to steel from him. And the name of the book.
Once we get into how much of a sleaze Buddy is, my sympathy totally went to Sterling and his friends, and I hoped that they would be able to pull this grand robbery off, as well as get back at Buddy for all he had done.
I am pleased to say this is as good as any heist that the odds are not in their favor, but they carry on. It is a fun read, well fun in that bad things are going to happen to bad people. Not fun all the damage that Buddy has done for there to be a need for revenge.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. This book is being published on the 4th of August 2026.
OK. I started reading this and thought that Sterling was just a crybaby. But as I read we learn about more and more people that have had their lives ruined, or died because of Buddy. Thus the need to steel from him. And the name of the book.
Once we get into how much of a sleaze Buddy is, my sympathy totally went to Sterling and his friends, and I hoped that they would be able to pull this grand robbery off, as well as get back at Buddy for all he had done.
I am pleased to say this is as good as any heist that the odds are not in their favor, but they carry on. It is a fun read, well fun in that bad things are going to happen to bad people. Not fun all the damage that Buddy has done for there to be a need for revenge.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. This book is being published on the 4th of August 2026.
July 15, 2026
As a lifelong wrestling fan, I adored this story. I couldn’t put it down as I needed to know if the heist succeeded and how all the various aspects and players fit into the plan. I love a good heist story on its own and it was definitely heightened by making it centered around wrestling.
Some of the storylines are definitely ripped from the headlines but they’re used in a new and compelling way. As well, some of the visual depictions are VERY on the nose (let’s just say I’m NOT a Buddy Hansen girl).
The dirt sheet pages were a perfect and hilarious touch.
Without getting into specifics, the feeling you get at the end of the story is like how you feel after watching a fantastic match - satisfied, fulfilled and elated.
Thank you to NetGalley and Image Comics for the opportunity to read and review.
Some of the storylines are definitely ripped from the headlines but they’re used in a new and compelling way. As well, some of the visual depictions are VERY on the nose (let’s just say I’m NOT a Buddy Hansen girl).
The dirt sheet pages were a perfect and hilarious touch.
Without getting into specifics, the feeling you get at the end of the story is like how you feel after watching a fantastic match - satisfied, fulfilled and elated.
Thank you to NetGalley and Image Comics for the opportunity to read and review.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Some professional wrestling has-beens decide to get revenge on the promoter who used them up and tossed them aside like garbage.
It's pretty typical heist fare, with a team of quirky characters coming together to execute a far-fetched plan that has some hiccups and twists -- in many ways, it reminded me of the movie Lucky Logan, where some goofballs try to rob a NASCAR event. But hey, as usual, there is energy in Kyle Starks' script and art, and I have a soft spot for professional wrestling, so I had a good time.
As a bonus, I got a kick out of the little storylines built into the short text pieces between chapters and how they pay off in the end.
Disclosure: I received access to a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.com.
FOR REFERENCE:
Contains material originally published in single magazine form as Wrestle Heist #1-5.
It's pretty typical heist fare, with a team of quirky characters coming together to execute a far-fetched plan that has some hiccups and twists -- in many ways, it reminded me of the movie Lucky Logan, where some goofballs try to rob a NASCAR event. But hey, as usual, there is energy in Kyle Starks' script and art, and I have a soft spot for professional wrestling, so I had a good time.
As a bonus, I got a kick out of the little storylines built into the short text pieces between chapters and how they pay off in the end.
Disclosure: I received access to a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.com.
FOR REFERENCE:
Contains material originally published in single magazine form as Wrestle Heist #1-5.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
As a long time comics fan and a life-long pro wrestling fan, this was pure gold. Wrestling fans will love the characters portrayed and enjoy sitting there matching the different “real life” wrestling personalities with the characters on the page.
The story? Excellent. I laughed so many times and yet was intrigued by how the proposed heist plays out.
The art? The artwork reminded me of “Cracked” magazine. It just added to the enjoyment of reading this graphic novel.
The best part was the magazine aspects scattered throughout. The advertisements. The rankings. I was laughing so hard reading these. They were perfect for those of us that bought wrestling magazines back in the day.
Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for providing an ARC for an unbiased review.
The story? Excellent. I laughed so many times and yet was intrigued by how the proposed heist plays out.
The art? The artwork reminded me of “Cracked” magazine. It just added to the enjoyment of reading this graphic novel.
The best part was the magazine aspects scattered throughout. The advertisements. The rankings. I was laughing so hard reading these. They were perfect for those of us that bought wrestling magazines back in the day.
Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for providing an ARC for an unbiased review.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
What an awesome book! I absolutely love wrestling, so I always pick up any wrestling books I see. This was a great start to what looks to be a very faithful wrestling series. We get a lot of behind the scenes looks into the drama outside of the squared circle. A huge betrayal with hopes of revenge. A couple of stories from some old time greats. And a character roster that I'm already hooked on. These characters feel so realistic in the professional wrestling world. I can see little influences from some of my favorite real wrestlers. This is bound to be something fantastic. I can't wait for more!
August 18, 2026
Sterling Steele is the heel (antagonist character) about to leave his current wrestling league for a better one. His shady, exploitive manager/league owner has him deliberately injured in his final match as punishment.
Steele sets about putting together a heist team to rob the manager during a big tournament. Has most of the typical heist story tropes (uniquely talented team, you think the plan goes wrong but that was the plan, jerk heist target, etc), but with Starks's silly/eccentric tone and characters.
Steele sets about putting together a heist team to rob the manager during a big tournament. Has most of the typical heist story tropes (uniquely talented team, you think the plan goes wrong but that was the plan, jerk heist target, etc), but with Starks's silly/eccentric tone and characters.
Review of advance copy
Kyle Starks is always entertaining and him tackling the wrestling industry is pretty great. The basic story is a bunch of washed-up wrestles decide to rob the president of the wrestling federation during the big yearly event. Lots of nods to old wrestlers, and, although I haven't watched wrestling for 35 years, it does bring back some nostalgia for simpler times. Funny, goofy, some heart, and all around satisfying.
August 8, 2026
I think this is fine overall but it's not as funny as Starks's previous works and in part this is due to how overstuffed it feels. The comic throws a hundred jokes at the wall and few end up sticking. In fact, I found most of the running gags kind of tiring, especially the caricature evil villain, who does not seem like a caricature at all while Vince McMahon exists.
Review of advance copy
It possesses charm and it’s clearly a work of passion with the lot of effort put into the package. There’s some good lines and raises a few chuckles, but when Starks draws his own scripts it just never clicks with me.
The art is just not my thing.
The art is just not my thing.
Review of advance copy
A GREAT story full of wrestling knowledge.
August 10, 2026
This writer is just good at what they do.. very consistently funny and clever.
I may have read like one thing from starks that i didn’t enjoy.
3.7🌟
I may have read like one thing from starks that i didn’t enjoy.
3.7🌟
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
This book is a really fun and charming heist, if a little safe at times (hugging closely to the Ocean's formula), and feels the most Kyle Starks of all his books - bringing heart and crassness and wrestling and cartoonish violence and nonsense together in a wonderful soup.
This is not an advanced copy, the comic stores get it several weeks before main stores.
This is not an advanced copy, the comic stores get it several weeks before main stores.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you Image and Netgalley for this wonderful arc. Kyle Starks as usual kills it in the comedy department and does much better in the serious department than some of his other outings. The heist itself is interesting and has strong moral stakes. You can tell Starks loves wrestling with the inside look at the exploration in the industry as well as the people behind the keyfabe. Starks’ art is as always endearing. An all around great book.
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