Marty Tarantella has been flipping burgers for 15 years. He has no kids, no hobbies, no love interests, and, essentially, no life. But, Marty wants to change that. And he’s going to change that by robbing some local stores. But, in his heist, he also steals something from a religious cult and they want that back. Trve Kvlt #1 kicks off an intriguing series that shows a lot of potential in its weirdness.

Written by Scott Bryan Wilson, Trve Kvlt #1 is an interesting start in that it delivers characters that are generally unlikeable. They’re Clerks without the charm. Marty is a loser. He goes on about his life and how he found a “family” with his job at Burger Lord, but overall we get a sense that he’s kind of worthless. He’s had this job for 15 years but hasn’t really gotten anywhere in life and we’re never really given a solid reason as to why. He just is… and his theft is really just a way to get things rolling as far as what’s to come. What that exactly is? That’s only hinted at.

The art by Liana Kangas is good. With color by Gab Contreras and lettering by DC Hopkins, a lot of the humor of the comic comes from its visuals. What Kangas does so well is nail down the body language and stances of everyone. Marty feels like he has a language all his own in how he presents himself. The robberies and after, and even before, give a sense of a person who is very antsy and skittish. That’s understandable considering what he’s done. But, it comes off really well on the page. There’s a physical humor in the panels that brings the story together.

Trve Kvlt #1 isn’t a bad start but there’s a sense of a scattered story that matches its lead Marty. The comic doesn’t focus at times and feels like it bounces around but misses some key motivations and depth to the main character. Due to that, he’s not one to really cheer for which makes the point of reading the comic to see how he’s going to mess up.

Story: Scott Bryan Wilson Art: Liana Kangas
Color: Gab Contreras Letterer: DC Hopkins
Story: 7.5 Art: 7.75 Overall: 7.5 Recommendation: Read

IDW Publishing provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

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Purchase: Zeus Comics – comiXology/Kindle