Royal City, Vol. 1: Next of Kin

The fractured Pike family are brought back together to the dying industrial town of Royal City when the elderly patriarch, Peter, suffers a stroke. But they also have another shared commonality: dead Tommy Pike, drowned at age 14, who haunts each of the family in his own way. In this time of crisis, the family must finally confront their dark past. But is Tommy somehow still alive…? Jeff Lemire’s new Image ongoing, Royal City, is being sold as a sequel of sorts to his critically acclaimed mo [...]

The elderly father of the Pike family has a stroke, bringing his family together for the first time in years. As they gather in the dead industrial town of Royal City, the past rears its ugly head reminding them of a terrible event that happened and left them permanently emotionally scarred… Royal City is kind of a throwback for Jeff Lemire to his Essex County days, the comic that made his career. And it’s not bad but it’s also not as good as Essex County was. This bumper 50-page first iss [...]

Royal City is a new series by Jeff Lemire that harkens back to his Essex County days. No sci fi element, (I think). It’s a family story, set in a small town, Royal City, where Dad has had a stroke. This is the first issue, but it is a 50 page issue, so it’s substantial for a single issue. In it we meet the Pike family: Mom, Dad, Pat (the narrator of the story); Tara, a corporate type; Richie, the drunk. The most powerful aspect of this issue is the variously aged images of Tommy who appears [...]

Dark, tender, and brilliant, Royal City embodies the soul of tragedy and regret among family. The story delves into the bitter drama and dark past of this family. Each is dealing with demons of their own: failure, divorce, infertility, addiction, loneliness, cynicism. And they are all haunted by the year 1993. What’s apparent is Lemire’s self-awareness, reflecting upon his own life, his successes and failures, and his own mortality. It’s about childhood and the existential pains of growing [...]

Royal City, (volume one), is set in a small bleak town (one bit of graffiti has it “Royal Shitty”) and features a bleak family who it seems has been falling apart since their brother Tommy died in 1993. But each family member is still visited by Tommy in various ways. The occasion for the book is Dad’s stroke; he’s just had another fight with his wife, and he thinks he hears Tommy’s voice on the radio. While Dad is in a coma, we get backstory on the rest of the family, though our main [...]

It's difficult to explain this without giving away too much. I think one thing at least, in the author's note Lemire explains his fear of people calling this "slice-of-life" (because he thinks both retailers and readers see those as boring) >immediately shelves on slice-of-life shelf<but really, that's kind of what this is. (Slice-of-life, not boring.)I might just be more accepting of slice-of-life because it has a HUGE presence in manga and anime. If he doesn't want it called that, "magic [...]

Sometimes I read comics to go on huge fantasies. Sometimes I read them to be in the boots of a superhero. And SOMETIMES I read them to get a bit of slice of life stories. Sometimes I can't connect but I'm glad to say Royal City hits all the right marks. Royal City is really about a shitty little town that connects a family in different ways. Patrick is the "main" character, and I say main because his whole family gets a good amount of character development, and he comes back to town after his fa [...]

In what seems like a trademark for Lemire, this new series is a pensive, melancholy family drama that examines regret, death, relationships and reckoning with the past. It follows the Pike family as they deal with the near-death stroke of the family patriarch, while each family member is haunted by the youngest brother Tommy, who drowned in an accident, something the family has never gotten over.Once again, Lemire is so efficient here in his visual storytelling, that it packs more of a punch in [...]

A new indie comic written and illustrated by Jeff Lemire is always a good thing in my book. He may be a big shot superhero comics writer nowadays, but his more grounded, down to earth indie comics were always his best, and I'm happy to say that Royal City is a welcome return to form. It doesn't quite match the emotional peaks of the brilliant Essex County, but is still a very good story in its own way. Recommended to anyone who's into family dramas and complicated relationships, and of course to [...]

Not a terrible series by any means but I just found the whole thing kind of depressing and uncomfortable to read. Individual issue reviews: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5Total review score: 2.4

This was like a gritty mildly depressing family soap opera. The beginning was slightly confusing, especially since I didn't fully read the synopsis, but the more I read the more I started to enjoy it and I love the illustration style."I'm at the point where I've stopped thinking about who I can be and started to realize that this is who I am.Let's face it, I'm nothing. I'm a fraud, a pretender."

Jeff Lemire returns to his more introspective roots. The story of a family whose patriarch has a stroke. Each family member's life is falling apart and they've never fully recovered from their youngest brother dying years ago. They all still talk to him and see him as they viewed him years ago. I wasn't the biggest fan of the depressing subject matter.Received an advance copy from Image and Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

Going back to reread this series, partly to refresh myself on the story and partly to remind myself just how good this series is. This is Jeff Lemire at his best, and the kind of story that he thrives in. One of the best of 2017!

This isn't a happy and funny comic. There are no superheroes nor is there any global threat or space invasion of any kind. There are no monsters, mutants, vibranium or adamantium. there are, however, villains. Bad people. People you wouldn't want to trust or even get to know.Royal City is an everyday comic story. What some would call, Slice Of Life. It is a drama revolving around a fucked up family in a place called Royal City.Jeff Lemire has written (and is writing) some fantastic stuffe guy is [...]

I'm a fan of the author, was looking forward to diving into this new graphic novel series, and it's really good. This is the story of a small town family; one that has a tragedy in their past. Everyone deals with life events differently, and this family is no different. It took me a little while to figure out what was going on, and when things clicked, whoa nelly! Do not read the summaries, trust the journey the author takes you on, and let things unfold at their own pace. I read this one severa [...]

Lemire creates another solid story revolving around family and relationship. I don't think this is the strongest story he has done in these "family style" books but it is still good. Royal city focuses on the struggles of a pretty average family that are shaken up as their father suffers a stroke. Like his other books there is a "ghost" element that I won't spoil but it is written well. I thought the inner relationships could of had more impact or meaning but I am only comparing this to Lemire's [...]

Um dia hão-de faltar-me palavras para adjetivar o trabalho do Jeff Lemire. Hoje em dia direi apenas que é um autor espantoso. Royal City – Volume 1 foi a obra dele que mais me surpreendeu, talvez por não ter lido nada sobre ela. Sou fã da arte dele, não é segredo, mas foi a história que me arrebatou por completo.No primeiro capítulo deste volume – composto por cinco capítulos – podemos acompanhar cada um dos membros desta família, depois do seu patriarca ter sofrido um AVC – h� [...]

Τον Jeff Lemire γνώρισα μέσα από το Essex County, ένα ασπρόμαυρο λιγομίλητο saga μιας οικογένειας με φόντο τον άγριο τόπο του Καναδά. Τον ξανασυνάντησα (και λάτρεψα) με το Sweet Tooth, ένα από τα καλύτερα και πιο σκοτεινά dystopian stories που έχω διαβάσει ποτέ, και τώρα, μετά από τόσα χρόνια που αφιέρω [...]

Actual rating 4.5. Can't wait for Volume 2!

This was just a family drama and one that wasn't really interesting most of the time. I was being nice by giving it a 3 star rating when I was thinking this was a 2 star book most of the time I read it. I don't see what was so great about this, and possibly it was just because of the author name attached to it. Really average read about a family who talks to their dead relative and sees him in different ways, but not a supernatural book if you understand.

Jeff Lemire wants to avoid calls his new series a "slice of life" story, and that's not a description I would have come up with, having subtle hints of the supernatural, but it's a useful term when comparing it to most other comics because it lacks action and centers around the mundane. This first issue lets the reader get to know the Pike family, made up of a father mother, two sons, and a daughter, each of them with distinct personalities. But not in a action comic book way of just giving them [...]

This is somewhere between realism and magical realism. Those expecting action and violence in their comics will be disappointed, but those looking for a thoughtful look into a family's life after they're struck by near tragedy will find this engrossing. The near tragedy is the father suffering a stroke, but the family is marked by another tragedy in the past, with the death of Thomas, or Tommy, a younger brother. Tommy haunts every single family member in some shape or form. Everyone sees him di [...]

Phew that last issue resembled a final one. Thought this story was a limited series. So glad it isn't. I do wish these would come out faster, but that's eishing for the impossible. Lemire's got a lot on his plate. Overall a very haunting story about a family. Dysfunctional by its separatedness, and connected via a dead kid brother. Lots left to the imagination and interpretation. Great comics format usage - Lemire's absolute forte is his self-drawn original stories. I can't stand his $$$ writing [...]

Hooked and can't wait to see this story progress!!

“I swear you can feel it late at night, a weirdness creeping around the edges of things.”An old man’s stroke brings his fractured family back together in a fading industrial nowhere town – exactly the sort of material which tends to make mediocre novels and worse plays. But filtered through the shabby, battered lines and wan watercolour light of Jeff Lemire’s art, it sings. It helps, of course, that comics – especially in this style – have a whole barrage of effects for blurring th [...]

A really great story. I've actually never read anything of Lemire's super hero stuff, but all of his creator owned stuff, this book included is really good. He excells at writing about flawed but likeable characters struggling with internal & external forces of their day to day life. Highly recommend!

I wept for the Pike family. Patrick Pike returns home to the small factory town of Royal City where his family is haunted by ghosts of an earlier time - the youngest Pike child whose death had splintered the family. It's a story that has been told numerously in various forms but there is something about Jeff Lemire's touch of his pen and brushes that make this familiar slice of life story so unique. Family relationships, depressingly dysfunctional and dynamically destructive, is what Lemire does [...]

Royal City sets up an eerie premise of a family haunted by a dead son/brother in a slowly dying rural town. Everyone has a secret problem that seems to normal until the strangely changing ghost comes into play. I'm not always fond of Lemire's work, but this one has be quite intrigued!

I liked this volume and look forward to the next one! It's a neat story with the main character as a multi-dimensional ghost, haunting different members of the family in different ways.

Ein Zeichenstil und eine Geschichte, die zum Verweilen einlädt.