SPOTLIGHT: Complex

If you love mind-warping comics in the vein of Burns’ Black Hole or Terry Moore’s Rachel Rising, things are about to get even more Complex. That’s the title of today’s Spotlight, ya see. And no, we’re not talking about Marc Ecko’s foray into lifestyle glossies.

It was a dark and stormy night...

Writer Michael Malkin cites the surreal UK cult classic The Prisoner and more recent works like American Beauty and Lost as influences for this sinister tale of paranoia and artifice. But even that list might not prepare you for the twists and turns that await in each installment of Complex. Imagine if David Lynch commandeered the production of The Truman Show, burnt the lot down and started from scratch. But as a comic. And drawn in stark black and white by Kay, whose female characters often call the likes of Moore’s Katchoo.

Girl interrupted

It’s hard to discuss without spoiling any surprises in this little Russian nesting doll of conspiracies and illusion. But a few chestnuts:

A town like any other.
A model home.
Rude awakenings.
Poisoned rings.
Social experiments.
Betrayal.
Stones thrown in glass houses.

Enter the conspiracy and, should your paranoia hold out, grab the first chapters for free. Then grab the whole package plus additional material–Complex: Prologue: Town Charter–for $3.99.