Words: Patrick Hickey Jr
Art: Bellaizza
Colors: Bellaizza
Letters: Patrick Hickey Jr
Publisher: Legacy Comix
KROOM is a love letter to the indie comics of the 1990s as its art style takes elements from Spawn (Todd McFarlane) and Tank Girl (Alan Martin and Jamie Hewlett). The comic also takes its inspiration from arcade fighters of the 90s such as Killer Instinct and Mortal Kombat, creating a post-apocalyptic atmosphere filled with cyborgs and gore. The comic is based on an indie dungeon crawler of the same name. The Redux version of KROOM that I’m looking at here is brought to us by Legacy Comic writers Patrick Hickey Jr and teenage artist Bellaizza.
The setting of the comic is a sprawling metropolis which at first glance seems like the perfect modern city. However, under the surface a race of Malphorians come to take away the city’s peace. The grungy and surreal aspects undermine this seemingly peaceful atmosphere set up in the beginning panels. These aspects surround the reader in its later panels creating a mind game with the reader’s perceptions.
KROOM stands for Kinetic, Robotic, Obedient, Obliteration Machine and was designed as the planet’s last hope. KROOM was created by scientist Doctor E. Swell and his Harunji Helen. Harunji’s are an original species of bear-like human hybrids whose design is reminiscent of Kuma from the Tekken series.
Doctor E. Swell however is seen as a stereotypical scientist character in a suit and tie with glasses and a rotund appearance. Doctor E. Swell is shown to be the main mind behind the creation of KROOM. Still, his motivations to create such an ultimate superhero are left a mystery to the reader and is only hinted that KROOM was designed to help defend against the Malphorians as the metropolis hasn’t fought in centuries.
The Malphorians are shown to be alien-like figures who are the series titular villains. Due to their demonic presence their designs are angular and gritty with design elements reminiscent of FPS such as Doom or Madspace.
While this issue doesn’t give us much information about the Malphorians, readers can infer that their race is interested in taking off the earth for some sort of gain but whether that gain is resources or just planning world domination isn’t directly told.
K.R.O.O.M. however, as a superhero, is shown as a cyborg with a laser sword and a robotic machine gun arm. Its design takes elements from Teen Titans Cyborg with its robotic characteristics as well as elements from fantasy RPGs such as Final Fantasy and The Witcher due to its flowing white hair and knight or wizard-like features such as armor and a cape.
From the little the comic shows about its plot and characters, the reader can learn that Malphorians are vicious. In the panel they are introduced in we see a gorey depiction of a civilian having a sword impaled through his throat. This type of over-the-top and grotesque gore also shows a horror element to the comic. These slight horror elements are shown in sprinkles throughout the comic which could suggest that the villains may have even more killing scenes.
We don’t know much about KROOM as a character other than a motivation to help save the planet. Is he naturally heroic or only doing so as it’s his mission? The comic does suggest that KROOM doesn’t have any human-like traits and is more so just a fighting machine. KROOM however, could just be an allegory for society’s obsession with heroic figures during times of intense stress.
The art style of KROOM is reminiscent of Adam Kubert of X-Men fame due to his use of angular lines and dynamic poses. The art style of KROOM allows for panels to tell a complete story without any dialogue allowing for the artwork to catch the reader off guard.
Bellaizza’s line work is also reminiscent of Adam Kubert due to his use of pencil line work to straight color illustration creating a more sketch-like style than it is typical ink.
This pencils-to-color style allows KROOM to feel nostalgic almost like the comic book characters we all designed in our notebooks during math class.
Overall, while the comic is a short read its ability to create an atmosphere with its grungy visuals would intrigue any fan of indie comics. KROOM takes its influences from the genre’s most beloved cult classics. KROOM does this in a way that isn’t pandering or self-parody but with a sense of love and respect for the originators of the style.
- KROOM #0 Redux - May 22, 2024
