Have you ever heard of the noir comic strip series Kid Maroon? Originally started in the 1940’s, the series is not exactly well remembered but has been said to have countless influences on modern comics. Pep Shepard, the original cartoonists, died outside of Taos, New Mexico.
Vault is bringing the series back, this time written by Christopher Cantwell and drawn by Victor Santos. Colors are by Mattia Iacono. Kid Maroon’s stories are coming back after 75 years.
Here’s the description from Vault:
Originally created by Shepard in 1944, the daily Kid Maroon comic strip focused on a hard-boiled boy detective who investigates horrendous crimes in his hometown of “Crimeville”. The series quickly attracted significant controversy, as the stories drew on Shepard’s nihilistic outlook, penchant for violence, and obsession with bathtub laudanum. The backlash against the series, coupled with the rising tides of the Comics Code, led to the strip’s cancellation after just 216 episodes. This caused Shepard to become completely disaffected with the comic book medium, and he would go on to bury all his original art in what is believed to be a field in South Dakota, location unknown. Despite all of this, Kid Maroon became a tremendous cult hit that has inspired underground and independent comics ever since.
Issue #1 of Kid Maroon comes to stores November 2024.
Check out the preview below:
