Royal City Volume 1: Next of Kin
by Jeff Lemire
Royal City (Collections and Selections — 1-5 collected)
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Description
In his most ambitious and most personal project to date, JEFF LEMIRE spins the captivating and engaging story of a family from the small factory town of Royal City and the ghosts that haunt them. In a return to the literary and thematic territory of LEMIRE's breakthrough graphic novel Essex County, ROYAL CITY follows Patrick Pike, a fading literary star who reluctantly returns to the once-thriving factory town where he grew up. Patrick is quickly drawn back into the dramas of his two adult show more siblings, his overbearing mother, and his browbeaten father, all of whom are still haunted by different versions of his youngest brother, Tommy, who drowned decades ago. As each member of the family struggles to keep themselves above water, it quickly becomes clear that Tommy's death isn't the only dark secret tearing the town, and this family, apart at the seams. Can each member of the Pike family come to terms with their own guilt over Tommy's death, and make peace with the many versions of Tommy that still haunt them, or will they all be dragged down below the river along with his lingering ghost? ROYAL CITY promises to be a sprawling serialized graphic novel that will chart the lives, loves, and losses of a troubled family and a vanishing town, across three decades. JEFF LEMIRE is the creator of DESCENDER (with DUSTIN NGUYEN), A.D.: AFTER DEATH (with SCOTT SNYDER), Roughneck, Secret Path (with GORD DOWNIE), PLUTONA (with EMI LENNOX), Essex County, Sweet Tooth, Trillium, and The Underwater Welder. He had also written celebrated stories featuring Green Arrow, Animal Man, Bloodshot, Wolverine, Hawkeye, Teen Titans, the Valiant, the X-Men, and Inhumans for the major comic book publishers. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
It's no secret that I love Jeff Lemire's work. This one is he first in a planned three volume series.
This story of the Pike family and the declining industrial town where they live is very much the kind of thing I expect from Lemire. All of the characters are damaged and in many ways unlikeable but Lemire manages to make you care about them and not only what will happen but at the same time what did happen. The youngest Pike child, Tommy died in 1993 but the details aren't revealed in this first volume.
Each family member interacts with a different Tommy. Either the one they knew best or the one they hoped he would have been had he lived.
The artwork is wonderful and the soft tones of the colors give the story a dreamlike feel.
This one show more is about family, loss, guilt, relationships, going home again, and facing things you'd rather not face. Thanks to Lemire's genius it manages to be a beautifully told story. show less
This story of the Pike family and the declining industrial town where they live is very much the kind of thing I expect from Lemire. All of the characters are damaged and in many ways unlikeable but Lemire manages to make you care about them and not only what will happen but at the same time what did happen. The youngest Pike child, Tommy died in 1993 but the details aren't revealed in this first volume.
Each family member interacts with a different Tommy. Either the one they knew best or the one they hoped he would have been had he lived.
The artwork is wonderful and the soft tones of the colors give the story a dreamlike feel.
This one show more is about family, loss, guilt, relationships, going home again, and facing things you'd rather not face. Thanks to Lemire's genius it manages to be a beautifully told story. show less
“Royal City” is a slice-of-life graphic novel about a family who comes together after their father has a stroke. Each family is struggling with a personal challenge: an unhappy marriage, substance addiction, loneliness and grief. On top of everything, Tommy, the youngest in the family who drowned years ago when he was a boy, haunts each of the family members in different ways.
This was beautifully illustrated with incredible, dreamlike panels of color. And I also felt moved by each character’s hopes and dreams for building a bright future in a working-class town, but the family members are also unnecessarily cruel towards each other. I found it difficult to connect and sympathize with characters I knew very little about and who show more were in the middle of bitter turmoil. The first volume is deeply melancholy with no reprieve, so I’m not exactly motivated to pick up the next volume in the series. show less
This was beautifully illustrated with incredible, dreamlike panels of color. And I also felt moved by each character’s hopes and dreams for building a bright future in a working-class town, but the family members are also unnecessarily cruel towards each other. I found it difficult to connect and sympathize with characters I knew very little about and who show more were in the middle of bitter turmoil. The first volume is deeply melancholy with no reprieve, so I’m not exactly motivated to pick up the next volume in the series. show less
Love this new series. The characters and their conflicts feel very real, as if the author went around peeking in our windows. And the buildup of the pace keeps me wanting to read more. Can’t wait to see how this storyline plays out.
** I received a copy of this book for free through a Goodreads giveaway. **
While it took me most of the story to figure out what the deal was with Tommy (and why there were so many Tommys in the book), I really enjoyed this! The characters were fascinating and well developed and while I was left with many more questions than answers, this is only volume one of the series! Loved the world, loved the characters and can't wait to see where this story goes next!
While it took me most of the story to figure out what the deal was with Tommy (and why there were so many Tommys in the book), I really enjoyed this! The characters were fascinating and well developed and while I was left with many more questions than answers, this is only volume one of the series! Loved the world, loved the characters and can't wait to see where this story goes next!
There is nothing wrong with this book that I can really point my finger to, but I just couldn't care about all the morose losers being haunted by a dead sibling. Ho-hum.
I agree with the previous reviewer - a bit confusing about Tommy (s) but ended up loving this and want to read the next installment. This book was recommended by the bookseller at OK Comics in Leeds as a fresh take on comics and story telling. I felt like I was reading/watching a soap opera - but better.
Great story. Lots of depth.
I’ll definitely read the next one.
I’ll definitely read the next one.
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- Original publication date
- 2017
- Original language
- English
Classifications
- Genre
- Graphic Novels & Comics
- DDC/MDS
- 741.5 — Arts & recreation Drawing & decorative arts Drawing Comic books, graphic novels, fotonovelas, cartoons, caricatures, comic strips
- LCC
- PN6728 .R6995 .L46 — Language and Literature Literature (General) Literature (General) Collections of general literature Comic books, strips, etc.
- BISAC
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- Reviews
- 7
- Rating
- (3.96)
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- 5 — English, Italian, Polish, Portuguese (Portugal), Spanish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 8
- ASINs
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