{"id":28789,"date":"2023-10-22T14:00:02","date_gmt":"2023-10-22T14:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=28789"},"modified":"2023-10-20T19:09:43","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T19:09:43","slug":"francis-the-vegas-tramps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2023\/10\/22\/francis-the-vegas-tramps\/","title":{"rendered":"Francis & the Vegas Tramps"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nBy Brian Kelly<\/strong> (Brian Kelly Army Press)
\nISBN: 978-8-359819-21-3 (TPB)<\/p>\n

Like so many others I started out in the business making minicomics, collaborating on fanzines or concocting stripzines with fellow weirdoes, outcasts and addicts. To this day, seeing the raw stuff of creativity in hand-crafted paper pamphlets or professionally printed packages which put dreamers\u2019 money where their mouths are still gets me going in ways which endanger my tired old heart\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

With that in mind here\u2019s a superb offering from overseas and the depths of time\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a while since I\u2019ve able to indulge my love of \u201csmall press\u201d and self-produced comics, so here\u2019s a look at one that pushes all the right buttons: a wry, witty, passionate yarn perfectly executed and incorporating a truckload of nostalgic credentials.<\/p>\n

Twenty years ago tattoo artist and author (The Cut-Ups: Tattoo Flash from the Third Mind<\/strong>) Brian Kelly produced a comic book about a rock band. Recently, while incapacitated with Covid and binge-watching Josie and The Pussycats in Outer Space<\/strong> cartoons, he used mandatory isolation and enforced downtime to revisit the project. Setting a return two decades later, his Kickstarter-funded result sees long-defunct and always dysfunctional young Turk mega-band Francis & the Vegas Tramps <\/strong>reunite after their loathed frontman is murdered.<\/p>\n

In a furiously dystopian future of rocketships, robots, clones and sex-droids, Elvis-worship, debauchery and disinformation, interstellar superstar and former bassist Molly Meteor<\/em>, drummer Ray<\/em>, and sideman Blue<\/em> meet for the first time in a lifetime on planet Mempherica.<\/p>\n

It was the place where they were Francis & the Vegas Tramps<\/em> and became adored sensations, and it the world where it all ended. When they explosively split up, attention-grabbing frontman Francis Smith<\/em> went solo and gradually faded into mediocrity. Offworld, Molly\u2019s talent took her to the top but she has always been haunted by the appalling event that triggered the split and took her away from the men trusted most in her life.<\/p>\n

Within moments of debarking and meeting an older even-sweeter Ray, she\u2019s being questioned by cops about Francis\u2019 extremely unpleasant life and habits and his shocking, scandalous demise\u2026<\/p>\n

The Space Detectives clearly have no clue but plenty of suspicions, and soon Molly is doing her own investigating, peeling back the years to uncover plenty of sordid suspects, previously-unsuspected motives and even two clearly-lying addicts claiming to be the culprits.<\/p>\n

As Molly and Ray dig deeper, they quickly uncover a viper\u2019s nest of crime, rogue religions, designer drugs and an enigmatic backer for Francis\u2019 toxic mother. Things turn deadly serious when the cops abruptly find Molly\u2019s prints at the crime scene. She\u2019s arrested even though she was on stage on another planet at the time of the killing\u2026<\/p>\n

It\u2019s clear that the time has come to kick out the jams and solve this sucker herself\u2026 if she can avoid becoming the next good-looking corpse\u2026<\/p>\n

A traditional sci-fi cosy murder-mystery with Rock-& Roll underpinnings that never takes itself too seriously, Francis & the Vegas Tramps <\/strong>is a riotous romp with echoes of early 2000AD<\/strong>, channelling snippets of Sin City<\/strong> and pastiches of musical screen gems from Rock Follies<\/strong> to The Rocky Horror Show<\/strong> and American Idiot<\/strong> to The Phantom of the Paradise<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

If you have a suspicious mind and want a straightforward pictorial quandary to solve – one offering the promise of more to follow – crack open your search engine of choice and head for a twisty-turny tomorrow that will leave you all shook up. go on. It\u2019s now or never\u2026
\n\u00a9 2023, Brian Kelly. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Brian Kelly (Brian Kelly Army Press) ISBN: 978-8-359819-21-3 (TPB) Like so many others I started out in the business making minicomics, collaborating on fanzines or concocting stripzines with fellow weirdoes, outcasts and addicts. To this day, seeing the raw stuff of creativity in hand-crafted paper pamphlets or professionally printed packages which put dreamers\u2019 money … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Francis & the Vegas Tramps”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[75,328,225,107],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-crime-comics","category-music","category-mystery","category-science-fiction"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-7ul","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28789"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28789\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28791,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28789\/revisions\/28791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}