Killeroo Gangwar is a graphic novel by Darren Close and Paul Abstruse. It’s an incredibly Australian production, as the title and cover image to the left should make obvious. The titular character is a hard-as-nails human/kangaroo hybrid motorcycle gang leader. That in itself is actually a pretty awesome idea. Gangwar tells the story of Killaroo’s gang, The Outback Warriors, and their encounter at a roadhouse with rival gang, The Redbacks.

However, as far as a story goes, it’s more of an introduction or a prologue than an actual yarn. The book is very short, only about fifteen pages or so, and there’s really no time to develop any great depth. As introductions go, it’s very good. The artwork is excellent and very filmic in a bold, black and white style. That artwork conveys the story and action very well, and the violence and attitude of the whole piece are superbly realised.

The trouble was, I got to the end of this short book and felt like the thing had only just started and I wanted more. I can only assume there is more out there and there’s the potential for this idea and these characters to be explored in a variety of interesting stories. A quick web search certainly seems to hint that there is a lot more out there: this blog post gives us some information.

This is definitely one of the slicker and more professional local graphic novels that I’ve seen and I’d be intrigued to read more. For just six bucks, Killeroo Gangwar is definitely worth a look to see if it catches your interest too.

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