King of the Flies v. 2: The Origin of the World
Written by Pirus
Illustrated by Mezzo
Colored by Ruby
Translated by Helge Dascher
Published by Fantagraphics
Pirus and Mezzo continue their brutal dissection of suburbia in the second of three King of the Flies albums. The creative team, Frenchmen both, craft a tale so universal that a single reference to a Euro is the only element that prevents the story from taking place in any American suburb.
In King of the Flies, Pirus and Mezzo move through their suburban nightmare in ten chapters, seven-page each. Switching narrators, the creators plumb deeper into the disaffected malaise possessing the listless community with each sequence. Prospectless teenagers pursue their own short-sighted desires, while mingling uncomfortably with adults whose limited ambitions and selfish yens provide an ugly mirror to the kids’ futures.
Artist Mezzo fills each panel with moody, sagging, worn-in details, and the book’s flat color palette enforces the rundown quality of the line art. Anger simmers below the surface of each panel, balanced by a resigned ennui. The beauty of King of the Flies: The Origin of the World lies in seeing which way that tenuous tension will fall for each character.
If you’re of a mind for the ugly side of humanity, the despondence of hopeless lives, you won’t find a better comic that Pirus and Mezzo’s King of the Flies. The dialogue crackles, the artwork’s astonishing, and every character’s swirling the drain of life – like a car crash, you won’t be able to look away.
April 15th, 2012 at 9:07 am
Pirus and Mezzo continue their brutal dissection of suburbia in the second of three King of the Flies albums.