Conspiracy Comics #1 is the latest project by acclaimed cartoonist Jim Rugg, a collection of comics stories covering true crime, local conspiracies and pro-wrestling rivalries. Continuing Rugg’s experimentation with the form, Conspiracy Comics #1 shows off the cartoonist’s chameleonic ability to shift between artistic styles to suit the various stories found in this anthology special.

Following up on last year’s similar True Crime Funnies #1, Conspiracy Comics #1 is written, drawn, colored and lettered by Jim Rugg. Containing three short stories, the anthology is self-published and sold exclusively through Jim Rugg’s website.

The three stories contained within cover a wide variety of subjects, but all are based on true events. Taking inspiration from similar “true crime” comics of the 1940s and '50s, Jim Rugg’s Conspiracy Comics #1 is a comic book operating at a high level of craft in an impeccably-designed package.

Conspiracy Comics #1 Tells Three Stories Based on Real Events

“Jim Rugg’s Conspiracy Comics #1 is a comic book operating at a high level of craft in an impeccably-designed package.”

The first story appearing in Criminal Comics #1 is “Pittsburgh’s Greatest Mystery,” a straight non-fiction account of a B-52 bomber plane that crash-landed in the Monongahela River outside Homestead, Pennsylvania in 1956. After the captain and surviving crew were rescued from the plane, it was decided by local authorities to wait until the next day to retrieve the sinking aircraft. Yet the wreckage was never recovered despite many attempts to dredge the river, leading to various theories as to what may have happened to the missing B-52. Rugg chronicles these accounts via a Dan Clowes-inspired page of talking heads, before presenting two theories of what might have actually happened.

“Christmas Cage Match” is a short piece at four pages, but Rugg makes every panel count. Previously published in A24’s Von Erich zine to promote last year’s feature film The Iron Claw, the story is all about the wrestling match held between Kerry Von Erich and Ric Flair on Christmas Day in 1982. This match eventually led to one of the most famous feuds in wrestling history, between the Von Erich family and the Fabulous Freebirds. Although brief, Rugg manages to get in all the highlights of the legendary bout, crafting all the pro-wrestling action in exacting detail.

The final story in the anthology is “The War on Drugs,” something of a sequel to the previous “A Diet of Danger” that appeared in True Crime Funnies #1. “The War on Drugs” continues the story of George Hunter White, a Federal Bureau of Narcotics agent who is perhaps best known for his involvement in the CIA’s Project MKUltra. Rugg adapts segments of White’s unpublished memoirs about his life and career, with this story chronicling his involvement in a nationwide drug bust in 1937. Rugg’s approach dryly adapts White’s self-mythologizing to darkly humorous effect, using comic book tropes to tell the overblown story.

Conspiracy Comics #1 Shows Off Jim Rugg’s Mastery of the Comic Book Medium

“Each story here has its own, unique visual identity, with Rugg either recreating or reinventing techniques of the past for his own narrative purposes.”

All of these stories are interesting in and of themselves, but what truly makes Conspiracy Comics #1 special are the choices Rugg makes in bringing them to life on the comic page. Earlier works like Afrodisiac established Rugg’s ability to mimic other artistic styles, even down to the coloring choices made to make the pages look like remnants of the comic book past. Each story here has its own, unique visual identity, with Rugg either recreating or reinventing techniques of the past for his own narrative purposes.

Whereas “Pittsburgh’s Greatest Mystery” feels like a riff on EC Comics of the Golden Age due to the pacing of the panels and the Leroy Lettering font, “Christmas Cage Match” is made with the classic, Marvel Age hyperbole of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Pulling from these references contextualizes the stories being told specifically for the comic book medium, giving each a sense of time and place through the style utilized for each. This variety of techniques allows Rugg to create a world for all three stories, making each feel complete and fully fleshed-out.

Drawing from popular culture to tell the true-life stories contained therein gives Rugg the opportunity to subtly comment upon each in Conspiracy Comics #1. “The War on Drugs” illustrates this rather brilliantly. By making the comic story feel like a Mickey Spillane-esque pulp novel, Rugg is able to keep true to George White’s apparent exaggerations while also pointing out their inherent ridiculousness. One particularly amusing scene depicts White taking a “blood oath” with the Hip Sing Tong drug organization, which Rugg interprets as a scene right out of a lurid pulp magazine, with hooded figures, ceremonial daggers and fiery altars aplenty.

Jim Rugg Pays Homage to Comic Book History in Conspiracy Comics #1

“ Conspiracy Comics #1 continues the trend of Rugg’s experimentation with the form, acting as a showcase for his abilities as a cartoonist.”

Rugg’s use of a variety of different media tells a story through not just the words and drawings, but also the color and lettering choices. Truly the invisible art of comic book making, Rugg’s approach to the coloring and lettering for all three shorts tell a story in their own right. The sepia-toned flashbacks of the B52 crash in “Pittsburgh’s Greatest Mystery” creates a haunting, rather beautiful view of Pittsburgh in the 1950s, with the city portrayed as constantly glowing with the fire of steel mills.

The lettering also helps to establish a world for each of the three stories. “Pittsburgh’s Greatest Mystery” uses the Leroy lettering font, a style most associated with EC Comics. Married couple Jim and Margaret Wroten handled the majority of the lettering for EC, often considered the best practitioners of what is a rather painstaking process. Whether Rugg uses an actual Leroy kit to achieve the lettering or has created his own font, the result is a flawless recreation. The variety of the lettering adds to the period feel throughout Conspiracy Comics #1, making each story feel distinct.

Conspiracy Comics #1 continues the trend of Rugg’s experimentation with the form, acting as a showcase for his abilities as a cartoonist. Previous works like Hulk: Grand Design and Street Angel saw Rugg adopt a variety of differing styles in his approach, making an anthology format the perfect playground for the cartoonist to stretch his wings and show off what he is truly capable of. With any luck, we’ll get more “true crime” anthologies like Conspiracy Comics #1 in the future, allowing Jim Rugg to keep pushing himself in new directions and explore what is possible on the comic book page.