M.F.K.Z. Vol. 1

This is most likely going to be a very short post but it was one I really wanted to write because... well, because I wanted to remind myself that, sometimes, when I make a judgement on a comic that there is a good chance that I could be wrong.

Case in point.

M.F.K.Z Volume 1. Image
from Comixology.

MFKZ Volume 1 is an odd comic book for my collection, mainly because I honestly have no idea where it came from (other than Comixology). Now, my best guess is that Comixology were offering it to readers for free at some point (presumably between last October and now, although I'm convinced I've had it sitting in my library for a lot longer.) and, because I will pick up anything that says 'Free' on Comixology, I added it to my cart and picked it up. It has languished in the unread section ever since...

... Until now.

Comixology's synopsis tells the tale of MFKZ best as it Angelino, a kid from Dark Meat City who's can't get his life together, bouncing from crap job to crap job as he and his flame headed buddy Vinz make ends meet just so they can stay in their dump of a hotel room in Dark Meat City (the explanation for why this is called this is actually rather interesting). However, their dull, monotonous life has a major turn when Angelino is involved in a scooter accident, leading him on a crazy adventure as he and Vinz are chased across town and caught in the crossfire between gangsters, government agents and some men in black types who may not be all that they appear.

Now, at this point, I'm not sure what I can say. I'm now wondering if I allowed my bias to make my decision on this title for me because, despite reading the synopsis, one look at the cover and the fact that this was a free title at the time just didn't inspire me to believe that I would enjoy this.

How wrong I was.

M.F.K.Z. (which, after reading this, I'm confident stands for Mother F*%$*£% KraZy. Yes, I know that isn't correctly spelled) took me a little time to get into it, feeling a little slow to begin with. However, as soon as Angelino took his nose dive from his scooter I felt that the pacing just ramped up and had me absolutely hooked as the insane action and just the circumstances these two guys got into had me inexplicably intrigued.

As I read it, all I could think of was the film Pineapple Express and how the responses of Angelino and Vinz were so similar to that film's protagonists. In fact, MFKZ struck me as being exactly like many comedy films of that ilk, where the useless heroes somehow stumble through a shootout they (indirectly caused) without either taking, or handing out, a single bullet.

The strange thing is this; this comic is so NOT my usual cup of tea. It's tone is bizarre on an almost Deadpool-esque level (which I think I've mentioned before is definitely not my thing) while the art is... well, the art just doesn't look like my thing.

However, for me this is (Red Dwarf quote alert) my Fried Egg, Chilli, Chutney Sandwich; where it contains all the wrong ingredients but actually gets things spot on.

I'm not sure what else I can say and my lunch is over so I'm gonna go away with this. M.F.K.Z. is actually a really fun book despite an implication in it's cover or synopsis that argue counter to this. I kind of just wished that I'd gotten around to it sooner, not because it has fundamentally changed my life (it's good, but not that good) but because I probably ended up reading something comparatively sub-par instead.

The point is, M.F.K.Z. has re-taught me (because I'm sure I've been taught this once) that, in the end, any comic can be really great fun and a really awesome read, I've just got to swallow by bias and give it a shot!