Grass Kings is a lushly drawn graphic novel that is a mix of crime/mystery/drama. In Grass Kings, Robert and his brothers rule the Grass Kingdom, a sovereign nation somewhere in modern-day rural America whose residents consider themselves independent from the government and outsiders (sound familiar?). Things get wild when Robert takes in Maria, a woman on the run, and a standoff develops between the Grass Kingdom and the neighboring town of Cargill, whose corrupt sheriff has been waiting for an excuse to organize a raid. The conflict between outlaw homesteaders and lawmen bent on vengeance has the form of a modern-day western, but Kindt lends a broader scope with flashbacks across the violent history of the area and the sense that, over the centuries, “this patch of earth has been earned.” Though the Grass Kingdom is a weedy trailer park community, Jenkins’s carefully observed,pastel-toned watercolor art imbues a sense of magic, as the inhabitants see it: a fantasy kingdom of woods and fields, sunset-drenched farmhouses, and eccentric makeshift homes such as a houseboat lodged in a tree. The first volume also sets up a mystery around a long-missing serial killer to carry the story into future installments. Grass Kings is emotional, intimate, violent, and one of the best graphic novels out there.