Kenk: A Graphic Portrait

Category: 50 Books

I was lucky enough to preview this amazing book. It is a biography meets graphic novel. I would not have thought that would work, but the guys behind this book: Richard Poplak, Alex Jansen, Jason Gilmore, and Nick Marinkovich make it work. They tell the story of Igor Kenk, Toronto’s most prolific bicycle thief.

I know, it sounds boring. A bike thief? Who cares, right?

The thing is, Igor Kenk is such an interesting guy, he becomes so compelling. The more you read the more you want to understand why he does the things he does. The art in this book is great as well. It has a photcopier quality (which reminded me of Tom Goes to the Mayor) and each frame is scratched up and distorted and outlined in such a, I want to say tangible and human way. I love this. I think a lot of non-comic reading people like myself (the only book I kind of keep up with is HellBlazer, and that’s me buying a collection once a year) think of comics as just superhero stories. Slick character, smooth outlines. Seen one seen them all kind of thing.

But this book is great. It’s in black and white, looks like it was made on a photocopier, these two things really bring the story down to a human level. There’s nothing super polished or shiny about it. The way the story is laid out it feels like you’re reading a documentary film, which, you are.

It’s a great concept, great execution, great book. These guys did a masterful job with their subject.
Get it. Read it. You will not be disappointed.

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