Kings in Disguise

Kings in Disguise is a moving graphic novel, the story of Freddie Bloch, a 16-year-old trying to survive among "hobos" during the height of the great depression. There is no standard story with strong plot points; the novel is like "On the Road" by Kerouac. The setting and characters give the story power. It meanders without a traditional three-act structure, but Freddie, in his "adventures," changes. So did I as I read. Greatness in the graphic novel medium is achieved when the reader is moved, changed, their thinking altered in some way. James Vance achieves this with "Kings in Disguise." I was genuinely disturbed while reading parts of this story. Some elements of danger to young boys in close quarters with desperate vagrants never occurred to me. Anyone who thinks we are in the midst of a depression now, or even a "great recession," needs to read this novel. With our hyper-abundance of food today, the idea that people had to steal to eat still cannot penetrate my consciousness. Artist Dan Burr's drawings are perfect for the subject - drawn in black and white, yet I could almost feel the dirt and grime on the characters. Alan Moore admires "Kings" and writes this in his introduction: "When we search for names to make us proud of our humanity and of our heritage, the likelihood is that the name we seize upon will be a person born to modest circumstance." Kings of Disguise is a "must-read" for serious graphic novels fans, and for all readers. I agree with Alan Moore: "This is simply one of the most moving and compelling human stories to emerge out of the graphic story medium thus far."

During the 1930s, Freddie Bloch is forced to leave his home in search for his alcoholic father. During his travels he becomes a hobo, riding trains, living in much the same way we imagine the homeless do in the 1990s. Bloch's companions make the best of their poor circumstances by convincing themselves that they live undercover, and are "kings in disguise." The story resolves in a way that both allows Freddie to grow and realistically accesses the great depression. This is a graphic novel as opposed to a prose novel, but the illustative quality(direct, understated, black and white drawings) add to the novel's power rather than diminishing its overall effect. This is accomplished in great part because Vance's dialogue sounds novelistic rather than like a movie or what one often associates with comic book writing. Kings in Disguise is Tom Joad in picture