Comic Book Review – Knuckleheads #1-4

Knuckleheads #1-4

Written by: Brian Winkeler

Art by: Robert Wilson IV

Colors by: Jordan Boyd

Letters by: Thomas Mauer

Sometimes with great power comes great responsibility. Sometimes with great power comes lying around in a pink bath robe in flip flops and socks throwing responsibility out the window as you use your powers to cheat in video games and steal Netflix. It’s all a roll of the dice really.

And Trevor K. Trevinski is a gamblin’ man.

Well, not really, he’s pretty much decided that being a lazy shift-about is the way to go. Even with a weapon as powerful as The Crystal Fist attached to his hand.

Monkeybrain Comics, Knuckleheads, by Brian Winkeler and Robert Wilson IV is a funny and wonderfully lighthearted sci fi/adventure book about an average dude given an extraordinary power by aliens and how he uses or misuses that power. Winkeler’s storytelling is handled exceptionally well through dialogue. This comic benefits greatly from the lack of exposition as the story grows and develops primarily through character interaction which teaches the reader about the history of the characters as well as allows the characters to become more well rounded. There is no need for information filled caption boxes when Lance Powers and the Pizza Guy’s banter provide everything we need as Trevor fights a Cloverfield/Godzilla type monster. That’s the other gem in Winkeler’s writing – all of the pop culture jokes and references. The off the wall jokes and gags throughout these four issues are clever and never come at the expense of the overall tale being told.

Robert Wilson IV’s art is solid and gets progressively better as he finds his footing in the later issues. Wilsons storytelling and pacing are top notch, however, some facial expressions and gestures are a little shaky at times. This doesn’t distract or interrupt from the overall experience and I have no doubt that as these character designs become mainstays in the book that he’ll get these little details hammered out. He doesn’t get fancy with panel breaks or page layouts. We get a lot of typical grid layouts which is perfectly fine as it suits the story being told. His art really shines during action sequences as he gives the panels the weight and motion you’d expect during a big battle.

On top of Robert Wilson IV’s pictures are colors by Jordan Boyd. You don’t really notice Jordan Boyd’s colors…until you notice them! At first it just appears that panels are filled with coloring that fits the mood. But then you notice the blending and burning of the colors as they mix creating a soup that creates a tone for the scene. That is when they start to stand out and really give the pages some life.

Knuckleheads #1-3 is a complete story arc with issue #4 being the first part of a new adventure. I highly recommend this title; it’s a mixture of sci fi, super hero and comedy all rolled into one. If you need something to compare it to, it very much reminded me of the movie “Shawn of the Dead” where the witty banter and dialogue outshine the overall premise of the book.

You can get all four issues of Knuckleheads on Comixology for 99¢ each. Think about it, for less than the cost of one Batman book you can get four comics that come with extra material added in. Sounds like a deal to me. You should probably get to it.

Review Score: 5 (out of 7)

Thoughts? Leave comments below or find me on Twitter (@theprophetlen)