Wikipedia Brown and the Case of the Hotep Heist is a comic written by Lesly Julien with art by Daimon Hampton. Wikipedia Brown begins to investigate Dr. Onyx Whitestone. This is a mystery comic with hard-hitting violence, real world references, and a nearly all-black cast. The key kid here is Wikipedia Brown, they are an inquisitive and determined child with a potty mouth and a propensity for violence. They live with their single mother who isn’t a fan of Wikipedia’s antics. This story begins with Dr. Onyx Whitestone, leader of the New Africa Foundation, speaking about building a Black nationstate. Afterwards walking greeting attendees outside he runs into and gives his number to Wikipedia’s mom, something Wikipedia is strongly opposed to. The violence here has many hard hits but it doesn’t get bloody or gruesome. This moves at fast pace and it has the tone of an action-packed episode of a cartoon or anime. Though the drama is clear there are many more violently intense moments. The dialogue has decent back-and-forth, light profanity, and Wikipedia talks out loud to themselves frequently. There are no word-heavy pages here. This is an entertaining issue with humorous references and a straightforward plot that’ll hold your attention til the end.

            The art here is drawn in a detailed realistic manga-like style with strong lighting and shading. This is in black-and-white with halftone dotting, Ben Day dots, and other familiar patterns. There is almost no natural scenery outside of some grass outside of a building as this takes place indoors and on the city streets. The location is constantly changing Wikipedia is running all over the city visiting stores, buses, and random buildings. There’s usually something happening in the foreground with the backgrounds being split between showing actual surroundings or just being a solid, cloudy, or gradient color. The expression level here is very high as characters, specifically Wikipedia, react strongly to everything that goes on. Anger, irritation, and determination are the main emotions with some happiness and fear as well. Faces have strong realistic features and can they get animated which leads to pretty much every expression being very clear. A lot the violence is delivered with hands and feet with some brutal shots but no blood or gore. The action scenes tend to come in quick bursts with a high amount of panels, a variety of angles, and a flow that has the potential to confuse you.

“Is this worth reading?”

Yes, if this is up your alley.

“Would I like this?”

If you like investigative stories starring young kids that feature real world references and har-hitting violence then this is for you.

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

PG. Violence.

“Could I get a quote from the comic?”

“Beautiful Ebony Queens!”

 

Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/leswrite/wikipedia-brown-and-the-case-of-the-hotep-heist-one-shot/description

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

Probably Contains Spoilers

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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 26

Violent Pages: 8, for 31% of the comic

Sexy Pages: 0, for 0% of the comic

 

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

 

Violence Level – 3

“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 – 1

“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 – 1

“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.”