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I have now finally finished the 80 page tale of the Just King I started early in 2003. It was around the time of the invasion of Iraq.

Read the first few pages!

Prelude

I remember I already had a couple of characters and themes ready: the Clark Kent-ish news journalist Richard King, the multi-ethnic photo journalist Liberty Lee; themes such as post-colonialism, cut-throat capitalism, prejudice, racism, Islamophobia, as well and an all encompassing metaphor: sex.

Read the first few pages!

the birth of the Just King

As if this was not enough, I had ambitions of expressing it all through a completely new graphic language: I would use collage and innovative composition rather than panels, access a wide variety of styles, use logos and icons alongside normal illustrations. All mimicking the very advertising aesthetic I was hoping to criticize. I also wanted to collapse the symbolic and narrative layer of my story into one big jumble of everything. With all these ideas burning inside me, the war added the extra fuel I needed to my fire, and I worked and worked. For 4 years. Took a break. Worked again for a few months. Took another break. And then I finished it, just now, 10 years later.

Read the first few pages!

Presenting Liberty Lee

Looking at it now, I find to my surprise that everything I wanted to achieve is there. Everything from the ambitious themes, to the innovative styles, to the sexual metaphors. Cohesive yet sprawling, tight but epic, ironic but explosive. And above all timeless.

Read the first few pages!