J Tungol's Death to Dinksville

Todd Jepperson

A while back, Jason and Chad attended Wizard world Chicago where they shook a lot of hands and made a ton of new friends. One of those contacts was Comic book writer, penciler, and inker J Tungol who was eager to get the word out on his new graphic novel project; Death to Dinksville.

My copies of chapters one and two arrived and I’ve had the opportunity to read through them a few times. The first thing I’ll tell you is not to look past the “Suggested for mature readers. Contains violence, profanity, and sexual content.” on the cover. It’s my impression that this comic was created with heavy shock factor in mind.

Chapter one introduces us to a couple of main characters and gets a story going. We meet Lamar, who’s struggling through life with the looming fact that his mom is a prostitute (ed: stripper). He tells the new loser boyfriend off and gets chucked against a wall for his troubles. Then we meet a psychopathic highschool gunman who has escaped from prison and is on a maniacal holy mission to murder everyone he thinks is a sinner. Next, we catch back up to Lamar, jumping from the frying pan into the fire, as the zombies show up to finish what his mom’s new boyfriend started.

Chapter two shifts into reverse and takes us back to the night the lunatic murder from chapter one escaped from prison. We meet Ellen, younger sister of violently murdered and promiscuous highschool student Monica. Ellen is drugged and forced to “go to bed” early so that Monica and her boyfriend can fool around in peace. When she wakes up, Dinksville has been turned upside down. She catches up with her friends Lamar and Shogo, and they make a stand. Somehow, every adult ends up dying, and the kids (wielding knives and pistols) take control.

The art is highly stylized, but visually engaging and the lettering is very easy to take in. My only problem with the whole thing is the writing. I feel like either arc is strong enough to support the story on its own; but with both together, I feel like they conflict a little. That being said, the novel is thirteen chapters long and I’ve read only two. There’s a lot of room for filling of gaps to come, and it could go either way.



If you’re looking for a quick easy read and you’re not easily offended by sex, language, forcible drug use, or decorative violence check out Death to Dinksville; available through the Dinksville store at www.jtungol.com. Run over to Tungol’s Facebook page to see a few extra previews and some of his other work.