Tricia reviews: Hip Flask: Concrete Jungle
(The Big Here & The Long Now) by Richard Starkings
“Hip Flask: Concrete Jungle” was very much what I expected in terms of continuing the stories begun in the “Elephantmen: Wounded Animals” graphic novel. This volume could be considered a stand-alone volume but in my own experience, it was a mistake to attempt to read “Concrete Jungle” without reading “Wounded Animals” first.
As with “Wounded Animals,” “Concrete Jungle” masquerades as a pulpy, genre action story that centers on Hip Flask, the Elephantman who appears to be a bipedal hippopotamus. He was introduced in “Wounded Animals” as a private investigator type who’s been contracted by a branch of official law enforcement. His exact employment status and agency aren’t fully revealed. This book follows Hip Flask through the partial investigation of a case that clearly involves a hitman, the elephantman Obadiah Horn, and a man named Serengheti.
What isn’t clear is exactly how the case will be resolved because this volume doesn’t contain a full story arc. It’s obviously setting up plot elements for bigger and better things to come in the series, “Concrete Jungle” shifts between plot threads fluidly, while only weaving a couple of them into the larger storyline. The reader gets the impression that they can trust the author and artists to resolve all of these glimpses into a coherent whole.
The “Elephantmen” series is a fast-cut action series skillfully melded with noir and near-future science fiction and “Concrete Jungle” is no exception, however, much larger and deeper issues are at the heart of this story. “Concrete Jungle” raises issues of scientific ethics and responsibility, racism, economics, and even provokes some thought on law enforcement and prisons. The “Elephantmen” series carries all this issues within a story that brings them up without ever getting horribly preachy or boring in the slightest. “Concrete Jungle” is one of those books that a person can’t help thinking about after reading it, and that’s certainly not a bad thing at all.