Score:
★★★★★ (5/5)
In every medium, in every genre, there are characters you love. Sometimes you love to hate them but regardless they're memorable characters whose personalities resonant whether they're protagonists or antagonists. In the newest comic from Oni Press, 'Dirtbag Rapture,' written by Christopher Sebela and illustrated by Kendall Goode with Gab Contreras, Kat Garcia is described as a "stoner" and "selfish" but she swears she's not an asshole. That last point is up for debate but what she is is one of the most refreshingly realized lead characters in comics that's bluntly honest, hates her job and just wants to get high to find some peace and quiet.
This is a Kat Garcia stan account.
A near-death experience has given her a "gift," the ability to see dead people and some of those spirits are looking for a ride to a final resting spot. She literally allows them to live in her mind (not rent-free though) while a destination can be accommodated and terms of payment are negotiated. You can imagine with so many dead folks trying to hitch a ride somewhere it can be exhausting and bothersome for a young woman just trying to live her life. She makes no bones about it, being a human Uber for the dearly departed is annoying and time-consuming. The frequent travel and unending solicitations for space at the halfway house constructed in her mindscape known as the Garcia Arms can take a toll on a person. This is where the drugs come in. Once, weed and other drugs were for recreation but now it also helps her to space out and keep the dead at bay if only temporarily.
Sebela has created one of my favorite character tropes - the lovable jerk - in Kat her foul mouth and confidence can only be admired because sometimes we're put upon to do things we have to do instead of what we want to do. More than her rebellious spirit and fuck off attitude, it's rare to see a full-figured Latina with her own style and agency lead her own comic and dictate her own rules to her life. As seemingly magical as it is to interact with the dead, it's more of a burden than an altruistic exercise for Kat. Behind that tough veneer, there's a vulnerability there that exists beneath the surface but the job has made her weary. Nonetheless, the job hasn't kept her from being herself, full of fire, and grit even when things go haywire by the end of the issue in some unexpected ways.
Kendall Goode and Gab Contreras seem perfectly suited for this story in Goode's designs and Contreras' colors. The world-building seems grounded but playful. Even when ghosts are present they look like normal people and isn't until Contreras changes the color palette do you know whether events are happening in the present, in the past, or in the constructs in Kat's mind. It's just a weird slice-of-life story with some extraordinary interactions. This makes the heightened events in the final pages all the more shocking. The comic doesn't work without the characterization and design of Kat as its focal point. The dual-colored hair, the nose ring, the hoop earrings, says a lot about her. Nothing says carefree and independent like a good jean jacket.
'Dirtbag Rapture' #1 introduces one of the best characters in comics today with the brash and ballsy Kat. Burdened with the task of escorting the dead to the resting place of their choice, this stoner is about to find herself in the midst of a battle between angels and demons. It's not every day you read a more delightful supernatural comedy adventure with a more abrasive yet charming central character. Representation matters and this razor-sharp comic subverts expectations with wit, style, and magic.
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