The Death of Bobby Hart is a comic written and lettered by David F. Walker with art by Craig Johnson II and colors by Chris Sotomayor. When a famous writer is found murdered both his past life and current works are put under scrutiny. This is a mystery drama comic that takes place in the early 70’s and that touches on drug addiction, the Vietnam War, and other political and/or hot-button topics of the time. There are two main men here: the author Bobby Hart and the lead character of his book, the Ghetto Avenger Roosevelt “Rosey” Stone. Bobby Hart is a writer who has been struggling with a heroin addiction that has affected his work. His wife is named Ruby and she is pregnant with their first child. The detectives on the case are Bryant and Dennison. Some of the other characters we’ll see are teenage fans of Bobby Hart, his publisher Fenton, and his editor Leo Lansom. This story begins at the crime scene and the detectives are looking over the apartment and bickering back and forth. They look over some of Bobby’s past novels and read an excerpt from what he was currently working on. The perspective then shifts to Chapter 1 of the latest Ghetto Avenger book. This takes place in 1974 in Los Angeles. The violence here is pretty light though there is a significant amount of blood. The pacing slower than average overall as there is a lot of talking and the novel sections read like an actual book. This has an urban feel for the most part but a blaxploitation vibe during the Ghetto Avenger scenes. There are a lot of dramatically intense moments along with a few violent ones. The dialogue is very conversational with a lot of back-and-forth and a talking style similar to shows from that era like Good Times and Sanford and Son. There are many word-heavy pages here though most of them are in the novel scenes. This is an intriguing and engrossing comic with a riveting dramatic story, strong fleshed-out characters, and deep themes that will likely leave a lasting impact.

            The art here is drawn in a sharp and smooth version of the comics from the 60’s and 70’s with all the style and dotting that would entail. The color palette appears to be realistic for the time with the characters’ outfits standing out against the more drab backdrops. Aside from the rare potted plant or tree there isn’t much in the way natural scenery. The streets of LA are the primary location for this story as both Bobby and Rosey spend a decent amount of time pounding pavement. For more stationary places we have Bobby’s home, the publishing house, and the local corner store. The backgrounds do a great of showing the surrounding environment in every panel which gives each scene more weight. The expression level here is around average as the characters have realistic reactions to the different situations. Emotions in the real world range from happiness and joy to sadness and remorse while in the novel scenes it heavily leans towards aggression and toughness. The faces have an above-average amount of detail and they show the different expressions very clearly. Violence here is delivered by fists or firearms. There is some blood but nothing gruesome or gory. The action scenes focus on implied moments so outside of one panel we won’t see any actual squabbling.

“Is this worth reading?”

Yes.

“Would I like this?”

If you like mystery drama comics that star two different black men, one being a writer and the other being a vigilante that takes place in the 1970’s and deals with topics relevant to the time period then this is for you.

“What would this comic’s film rating be?”

PG-13. Violence, blood, light lewdness.

“Could I get a quote from the comic?”

“I just started writing the things I’ve always wanted to read.”

 

Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dfwalker/the-death-of-bobby-hart-a-true-crime-story/description

***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***

Probably Contains Spoilers

*
*
*
*
*

Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 69

Violent Pages: 3, for 4% of the comic

Sexy Pages: 1, for 1% of the comic

 

**The levels below aren’t necessarily maintained throughout the whole comic, but they were definitely reached**

 

Violence Level – 2

“Wasn’t no tussling at all.”

“Sometimes you gotta hit somebody.”

“I’m getting charged with how many counts of assault?”

“This was a tournament arc.”

“All my life I had to fight.”

 

Gore Level – 3

“The only thing leaking out your face is tears.”

“Looks like somebody spilled some ketchup.”

“Might need to soak that up with a bath towel.”

“That isn’t supposed to be outside the body.”

“This is a slaughterhouse.”

 

Death Level – 2

“And everybody lived happily ever after.”

“We might have gone to a couple funerals.”

“It just LOOKS like a serial killer was here.”

“Yeah this was a tragedy.”

“Think Gettysburg.”

 

Porn Level – 2

“Everybody kept their clothes on.”

“I guess it was too hot for a bra.”

“Sometimes you got to let everything air out.”

“This is like late night Cinemax in the early 2000’s.”

“Oh. This is porn.”