I’m a child of the ’80s (born in ’78), so my informative years were spent with The Goonies, Monster Squad, The Lost Boys, It, and other stories of kids coming together and against all odds defeating something way above their paygrades and combined heights. Urban Legendz embraces that really great credo of all for one and one for all, as Dwayne, just entering his teenage years, finds himself a transplant to Brooklyn along with his older high school-aged brother, Curtis, and his dad who happens to be a police officer. They’re moving there from Illinois, leaving the death of their mother behind to start a new life…by entering into their parents’ old life, as Brooklyn was the city Dwayne’s mom and dad grew up in.

In V.O., Dwayne mentions Brooklyn is going through an identity crisis, which couldn’t be truer as citizens seem to be coming face to face with some pretty scary monsters. It doesn’t take long for Dwayne to find himself tagging along with a group of misfit kids who have their ears to the ground as the occurrences of strange incidents pick up. You have Cashew, Mya, and Worm. This is a culturally diverse cast of characters bringing Brooklyn to glorious life.

The writing is smart and witty. I found myself laughing out loud at some of the zingers and just generally enjoying myself. The great thing about the book is that adventure amounts to something. It isn’t just the monsters that are the bad guys in this story, but the idea of gentrification of a community embracing all of the different peoples that make it thrive.

With that level of intelligence, there’s a lot going on here. The identity crisis of the city echoes Dwayne’s own inner turmoil moving to a city he doesn’t want to be in. The secondary characters each have personal and dramatic stakes in the story. The artwork is really fantastic, and the choice of colors turns Brooklyn into a living, breathing city on the page.

It’s really good…and there’s already a planned sequel.

It’s nice to see Humanoids expansion imprints succeeding.

Creative Team: Paul Down & Nick Bruno (writers), Michael Yates (artist), Arianna Maher (letters), Alex Donoghue & Fabrice Sapolsky (editors), Amanda Lucido (assistant editor), Jerry Frissen (senior art director), Fabrice Giger (publisher)
Publisher: Humanoids BIG
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