Written By: Kyle Starks
Art By: Kyle Starks
Published By: Image
Rock Candy Mountain is a series I’ve had the pleasure of reading and talking about but not reviewing. Time has a way of getting in the way. That being said, it’s also a series that I’m not sure I have a whole lot to say about. Like, I could just stop at, “It’s fun and unique, have at it,” but that wouldn’t be much of a review.
Let’s start at its world building, then. Rock Candy Mountain is a book about hobos and what I’ve been dubbing “hobo lore.” It’s absolutely silly and charming, yet it’s extremely well thought out. It’s one thing to write a stupid comedy and just go with the flow (I Hate Fairlyand gets mentioned again), but quite another to establish rules and characters that go beyond vulgarities and violence.
Like, the book starts off with Jackson telling off some tramps. What’s the difference between a tramp and a hobo? Plenty, as it turns out. It’s a funny joke, but it also establishes a hierarchy to this underbelly of train hoppers and vagrants. It’s this kind of little detail that helps make the entire book feel tangible.
It is also funny. That bears repeating.
Rock Candy Mountain #3 also brings on the supernatural, adding that little tidbit to the world as well. This isn’t a surprise by any stretch given that the first issue opened up with Satan himself slaughtering some people, but there’s more to it than that. Jackson’s Rock Candy Mountain is actually starting to seem like a real place, and him getting there is starting to hold real consequences.
Intermixed with the world building is some character work, which I’m…okay with? It’s hard to say. The jokes land less because of it, and while the more serious tone certainly adds danger and tension to the quest, it also takes away some of the whimsy, which was what I loved most about the first two issues. It’s a double-edged sword in a way, but the negative point is very much dulled.
It’s really just possible I wasn’t quite in the mindset for this going in, leaving the jokes a little flatter than normal. I still chuckled, but not as much as with the first two issues. Your mileage may vary there.
On the whole though, Rock Candy Mountain is a swell comic that is, by and large, just really unique. The setting is rare–one that’s probably been done before but not in anything I’ve seen recently. I like the characters, I adore the artwork for its cartoon simplicity, and I’m eager to see where it goes.
