Absurd Ventures is the brainchild of Dan Houser. The name Dan Houser will sound familiar to you depending on how into video games you are. He is the creator of several Rockstar Games franchises, including Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption. Absurd Ventures is the media company he has created, which includes books, podcasts, video games, and animation. American Caper is the first comic to come from Houser and this endeavor. Teaming up with Dark Horse Comics, a team of comic book superstars, and frequent collaborator Jeffrey “Laslow” Jones, Houser presents a hyperbolized, harsh world, the likes of which only he can bring.
What do a degenerate lawyer, a Mormon hitman, a red-pilled wife, a Mexican beauty queen, aWall Street billionaire, and escaped convicts all have in common? They all inhabit the town of Verona, Wyoming, and are in pursuit of the American Dream in their own way. Immediately, the influences are apparent: Some Shakespeare here, a splash of Sunset Blvd. there, but overall Dan Houser’s style is unmistakable. The book is full of the same dynamics you’d see in a Grand Theft Auto game, and that’s not a bad thing. Some of these issues feel like the setup and execution of a mission from the games he’s made.
While it can be a complaint that some of these issues feel like storylines taken from a game, I think it’s an impressive feat. Content-wise, you know it’s Dan Houser. In Houser’s world, the characters and situations are universal and work in myriad situations. If you are a fan of the world-building in Houser’s games, you’ll be glad to know that it also translates well to the page. It’s not like Houser and Laslow haven’t had practice world-building over the last couple of decades. The fake ads and signs populate the world as much as the unseemingly juxtaposed characters do.
American Caper uses the same biting commentary and hyperbolized characters that populate the many cities of the Grand Theft Auto games. I always get thrown off by something this visceral since it highlights the bad too much. I think it was easier to digest before the veil had been removed and we found that these heinous people actually exist in the real world – or at least were developed over time since Houser’s last Grand Theft Auto game was released.
David Lapham and Chris Anderson’s art is fantastic. It looks like a cross between the character designs from GTA mixed with the almost caricature-like drawings you’d find in MAD Magazine. Lee Loughride’s colors are perfect for a book that jumps between satire and violence on a whim. Getting Nate Piekos to do the lettering was a good call; his style brings out the subtle moments and makes them pop, but grounds the occasional moments of hyper-violence and gore.
Overall, American Caper does what it sets out to do: Lambaste a society that is almost as insane as the satire it presents. This book is unmistakably a Dan Houser production and fits well into his video game work. Paired with some amazing artists and great writing, American Caper is a crime story you don’t want to miss.
Creative Team: Dan Houser (writer), Lazlow (writer), David Lapham (artist), Chris Anderson (artist), Lee Loughridge (colorist), Nate Piekos (letterer), Tyler Boss (cover artist)
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
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