Rock Candy Mountain Complete

by Kyle Starks

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Graphic Novels Comics

232 pages, Paperback

Published July 2, 2024

Reviews

[Bandit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every so often there comes a proper, rollicking quest-style adventure that you just got to appreciate. This is one of those, which is why I'm rounding up my rating, despite the rather ugly manner of its faces. The rest of the art is a bit cartoonish, a bit crude, but it works for the story.
Set in 1948, this is a tale of a hobo on a quest for a legendary place only heard of in a song and described as hobo heaven. Mixing the real-life events and well-imagined ones, this story of a man who makes a deal with the devil to survive and then realizes that survival alone isn't enough and spends the rest of his time determined to get back to his family. Along the way, he meets a wonderful cast of colorful characters and has all kinds of adventures. Exciting, entertaining, amusing, with great text-to-art ratio, this book was oodles of fun to read.

This complete edition doesn't mess around - it takes its complete status seriously. There are scholarly articles on the era and historical aspects of the book, additional art, and even cutouts of the characters. Great job.

[Václav · Rating 5 out of 5]

(4,3 of 5 for unexpected hobo ride)
I try not to learn much about comics I might like, and surely try to forget everything before I finally get to the reading. With Rock Candy Mountain, I succeeded well in that. So, I was thinking it would be something like 'I Hate Fairyland' or some kind of fantasy-ish, crazy comedy. RCM is everything but that. It's an adventure full of action and yes, there is a bit of crazy, well, a big bit, but there is also sadness in that, and anger and many emotions. And they change like hobo change the train wagons. The story is simple, but it unveils perfectly; it just blooms. And it is fun and thrilling, I hardly found a blank spot, and I had a hard time putting the comics down. The art is nice too, the thick inks are fitting and the colouring is done well, perfectly adds ambience to the scene (night, day, action, gloomy settlement, supernatural...). This was fun front to back (and I also learned something, which I love too).

[Ricky Lima · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book. The art was fun and charismatic and the writing was alive and suited the comic well. It's clear that Starks put in a lot of research into the book because he represented the subject matter with a lot of nuance. The back matter had so much info on hobos and the devil and all that good stuff haha. Fantastic book.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Often funny and heartfelt but at times too silly for the drama to hit home fully.
Pacing issues hold this back from being 4 stars or higher, it does get repetitive in places and could have been shorter.

Still, it’s an original and well thought out series that’s worth your time, particularly if you are a fan of Kyle Starks.

[Robert Writhe · Rating 4 out of 5]

The looseness of the art is fun, interesting, and inspiring that a more or less serious period story can be effectively told with such a visual style. I don’t think the story is perfect and it feels as if it end too abruptly but it’s good ride with some good beats and good art. Rating it 4 to bump it and show my appreciation but if I could I’d give it’s a 3.5 out of 5.

[Dean · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of fun with some touching moments. Very funny. Nice colours.
It felt an issue or two too long.
The cover curls after being read.

I enjoyed some of the essays in the back. Worth it to buy this physically.

[Connor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was okay. There were some silly parts. Although the artwork was cartoony, there was some violence that felt over-the-top. I liked the jargon that was used; it was clear that the author did some research.

Read for a graphic novel book club.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

I originally read this when it was coming out monthly and I'm glad I bought this collection to read it again. Worth it. Great book.

[Neil Carey · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 21st Century's Oh Brother Where Art Thou? except wait I just remembered that Oh Brother Where Art Thou? came out in the 21st Century look just read this okay

[Brian Moreau · Rating 3 out of 5]

Giving it three stars for the ending. Otherwise, it got a little on my nerves.

[Philip Marinello · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny and heartfelt. Kyle Starks is sneakily one of the best comics creators out there rn!

[Will Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

An epic sort of adventure that is funny yet doesn't poke fun at vagabonds, in fact feels like a love letter to them. Full or redemption and hilarious characters. Big fan of this.

[Markus Seaberry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kyle Starks’ writing is brilliant and humorous and amazing, and his cartoony drawing style is engaging.