NAZRAT #1

****

Going back to 1986 with this one, NAZRAT #1 was published by Imperial Comics out of Boulder, Colorado.  Both written and drawn by Jerry Frazee, Nazrat is a character from a fantasy world in which animals are "intelligent" beings that commingle with society.  He is a rogue rat, accomplished thief and survival expert who uses his cunning to get out of sticky situations, accompanied by his friend Kipper, who is a tender-hearted, muscle-bound dog.  Together, the two roam the countryside and steal from other robbers and "miscreants" and Kipper titles them.

Though Nazrat and Kipper are rough and tumber characters, this series seems to be one part action, one part comedy.  Frazee writes the dialog for the characters very well and does a nice job of showing the friendship between the two without being corny.  He also shows the action in the story through decent artwork and through quick banter. 

I'm not sure if there it is just a coincidence that the main character's name is really just Tarzan spelled backward, but the reference really doesn't come up in the story line, I was kinda hoping for a spoof of the theme from the Tarzan stories.  However, I guess that Nazrat is a very agile rough tough fighter and has a real good instinct about how to take care of himself, maybe that's where the reference comes in.  Mr. Jerry Frazee, if you happen to read this, please let me know more about this question I have of the origin of Nazrat's name.

Even though the book was published in black and white, I thought that the artwork was very fitting of the story and the characters.  I also like that the comic was absent of any advertising, except for previews of other comics published by Imperial located on the last two pages.  That does drive up the price of the book over all, however it allows for more room for story, which I thought flowed very well in this, the first issue of NAZRAT.  All the elements above combine, in my opinion, for a rating of four out of five stars.

and now a word from our sponser:

(well not really a sponser, just a funny picture I found)