Kid Lobotomy: A Lad Insane TPB
Peter Milligan (w), Tess Fowler (a)
IDW (Black Crown)

Liz says: Kid Lobotomy is the first release from editor Shelly Bond’s Black Crown imprint at IDW. Best described as “Kafka meets King Lear by way of Young Frankenstein”, this utterly unique book evokes the fearlessness and originality of the nineties Vertigo comics on which Bond and writer Peter Milligan previously collaborated.

Titular character Kid is a former rock star and the son of a powerful hotelier, Big Daddy. After a psychotic episode onstage, Big Daddy arranges for Kid to be given an experimental brain operation, which seems to help him (at least, that’s what Kid thinks). Soon after Big Daddy appoints him manager of The Suites hotel, Kid decides to ‘help’ the guests by providing them with similar treatments. Meanwhile, Kid is being plotted against by his malevolent, power-hungry sister, who wants the hotel for herself.

A twisted tale of family drama related by an unreliable narrator and featuring giant cockroaches and shape-shifting chambermaids, Kid Lobotomy is unlike anything else you’ve read, although its references are classically familiar. A great debut from Black Crown, and stellar work from Peter Milligan and artist Tess Fowler.