Novel Ideas By Bill Love

Tiki Joe Mysteries: The High-Stakes Patsy

Writer/Artist Mark Murphy

SLG Publishing B&W 88 pgs.

ISBN 978-1-59362-124-7

It’s Las Vegas in 1959, and the Rat Pack rules the culture of cool. Joe Halliday is a WWII vet just trying to run a Tiki bar and make a living, but trouble has a way of finding him. Luckily his army buddies have his back and are ready to stand up to the mob, even if a little disguise might be in order.

Mark Murphy has a clean, classic drawing style perfectly suited to the time period. Tiki Joe Mysteries is awash in nostalgia for an era we know best from old movies and Sinatra albums, but he keeps his characters grounded. It is a true period piece, not grossly exaggerated camp. And it’s a period that hasn’t been overdone as a setting. The adventures Joe gets sucked into are believable, in a “I can’t believe we got caught up in this caper” sort of way. Think of Ocean’s Eleven, the original, set in the heyday of Vegas. From refusing to give protection money to the mob to dealing with a suspicious all-girl motorbike stunt-team, the stories move quickly, with just enough twists and turns to keep things fun.

You can practically hear the Dean Martin/Frank Sinatra soundtrack as you read this fast paced and fun look at crime capers, Vegas style. Enjoy it with a Mai Tai and lose yourself in another time.

Novel Ideas - Bill Love, Senior Editor of Graphic Novel Scene Magazine, looks at comics that never saw a staple. Many creators bypass the magazine format and publish original graphic novels. Novel Ideas spotlights the best, both old and new.