Writer: Russ Riekeman
Artist: Affandi Mudayana
Independently published, September 2026
This title will definitely not be confused with Malibu Comics’ 1993 series, a set of homages to heavy mental rockers like Ozzy Osbourne and Metallica, of the same name. Instead, here, Rockit, a single mother and hairdresser, discovers that she has a rather unpleasant secret buried somewhere in her past. Disembodied aliens intent on conquering Earth have somehow programmed her to be a lethal assassin, without her knowledge. From there, the comic launches into a fast-paced story that mixes urban crime fiction with some decidedly strange elements.
Here is the promotional copy from Kickstarter:
Rockit follows in the tradition of dark noir, black and white comics like Sin City and Torpedo. While this first issue focuses on Rockit’s initial awakening, it pulls back the curtain on a much larger, high stakes epic. As the series unfolds, the narrative expands far beyond a localized chase to expose a vast alien conspiracy-revealing why these alien forces are here, how they have covertly manipulated human development and the terrifying truth behind their control mechanisms. Rockit invites the reader to explore evolution, faith, science, and mechanisms of control- all while enjoying a clever, fast-paced story within a dystopian, amoral universe.
Russ Riekeman’s writing does indeed give the book a hard-boiled feel like Frank Miller’s noir classic Sin City, with plenty of internal monologue and quick exchanges of dialogue helping to establish the atmosphere. There is a constant sense that something bigger is going on behind the scenes. The story jumps between Rockit’s relationship with her daughter, mysterious street monsters known as boges, and the sinister organization known as “The Ministry.” There are also various pieces of text and changes in perspective scattered throughout the issue, which can make the structure feel somewhat fragmented at times.
There is a tendency for first issues to spend a lot of time explaining themselves. Characters need introductions, settings need to be established, and the writer often has to crowbar in as much exposition as plausible onto the page before the story gathers momentum.This could easily have been a comic that spent its entire first issue explaining the Ministry, the boges, Rockit’s history and how everything connects. Rockit #1 takes a different approach. The creative team drive hard and fast from the outset, and would rather have the reader in the passenger seat to the action than stop to explain every little thing. The fragmentation helps make the world feel bigger than what is immediately happening on a single page. Rockit #1 doesn’t give you a complete explanation of its mythology, but it gives you enough pieces to start putting things together. Most of the world-building comes through small bits of information, particularly through Rockit’s internal monologue, rather than lengthy exposition dumps. The approach won’t necessarily appeal to everyone, especially readers who prefer their world-building spoon-fed.
Affandi Mudayana’s artwork complements this approach nicely. The comic uses a clean black-and-white ink style, with crisp linework and carefully controlled shading. The pages have depth with no suggestion of clutter. The strong monochrome contrasts make everything exceptionally easy to follow, which is particularly useful during the more energetic action sequences.
The lack of color also doesn’t prevent the characters from being expressive. Body language and facial expressions do a good job conveying everything from warmth and comfort to the tension of a confrontation. Mr Mudayana’s artwork has the roughness you might expect from an indie comic, but it is presented with a polished sense of visual clarity.
Rockit #1 has plenty of action, a strange and intriguing setting, and enough bits of information hidden among the chaos to suggest that there is considerably more going on beneath the surface. We recommend it to readers who prefer chaos and dynamism. Here is a link to the Kickstarter page: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rockituniverse/rockit?lang=en