The eponymous band have long since broken up when this comic kicks off; frontman Francis is instead a drug-addicted Elvis impersonator in a shitty bar, living a sordid, depressing, sex, drugs and rock-and-roll lifestyle. When something horrific happens to Francis, his old bandmates come together to find out what happened, dredging up some truly shocking old wounds along the way.

There’s a real underground comix feel to Brian Kelly’s work here, and that’s not just in its aesthetic, but also in the writing and subject matter.

Though the retro-futurism of the setting and look of the comic suggests a campy, light-hearted experience, there are some truly shocking scenes here which inevitably cause some tonal whiplash, given how seriously, graphically and matter-of-factly they’re presented.

That said, Kelly sets his stall out early with the fate of Elvis-alike Francis, so it’s not as if we aren’t conditioned to dark things happening in this almost Futurama-esque world (incidentally, a few sequential panels do feature the Planet Express building and several Futurama characters in fairly subtle cameos, too).

Though the denouement again gets a bit jarring, especially given the grim revelation that precedes it, I’m thankful that we do have a climax which doesn’t hold back on being silly, or with delivering self-righteous monologues.

One thing I will say is that, despite the switches from shocking and serious subject matter back to high camp and a very 1950s bubblegum sci-fi style (replete with many puns), it definitely feels like the kind of story you wouldn’t get anywhere near if it wasn’t for the single-minded creativity of a solo indie creator. And for that we should be thankful.

Though this is the second volume of Francis and the Vegas Tramps, it’s written so that it functions perfectly as a murder mystery in its own right, with all of the flashbacks and exposition to ensure that you don’t have to have read the first volume to be engrossed in, perhaps grossed out by, this story.

This remastered version of an earlier release, now in full colour, will be launching on Kickstarter soon. You can sign up to be notified of the campaign’s launch here.

Many thanks to Brian Kelly for sending me a digital copy of Francis & the Vegas Tramps: Remastered for review purposes.

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