Robert Sergel follows the awkward path to greatness with his first graphic novel, Bald Knobber. A middle school boy named Cole delivers a book report on the Bald Knobbers, masked vigilantes from the Reconstruction Era. Unfortunately for him, this thrilling tale of antebellum justice and a corrupt county has an uncanny resonance with young Cole’s real life. Donning a homemade Bald Knobber mask with his cat, Daisy, at his side, Cole sets out to avenge the wrongs perpetrated by his recently divorced parents, his mother’s new boyfriend and the school bully. A mysterious house fire leads to a calamitous, and hilarious, conclusion. Much like the real Bald Knobbers, Cole discovers there are consequences to taking the law into your own hands.

"Sergel’s visuals fall in the same school as Nick Drnaso and Chris Ware (simple lines, marginal facial detail), but he shies away from positioning his characters to directly face the reader, a device from talking-head-style documentaries. Instead, his framing concentrates on creative cropping: a close-up of a hand reaching out from water to suggest drowning, a shot of a coaxial cable connected to convey anticipation, a shoelace being stepped on so the protagonist notices his shoes are untied. Often, the narrative revolves around a single character, so this focus on details shows where Sergel’s attention is going, a method of communicating the subjectivity of experience without spelling it out. Form serves function beautifully." — Paste Magazine, The 25 Best Comics of 2016 (So Far)

Author/Artist: Robert Sergel
Publisher: Secret Acres
Page Count: 80pp
Size: 5 x 6.25
Notes: hardcover, b/w
Date of Publication: October 30, 2018
ISBN: 978-0999193518