Announced at Vertigo’s site and featured in the latest DC All Access, a brand new 8-issue mini has been unveiled entitled “The Kitchen.”
Written by Ollie Masters, illustrated by Ming Doyle, colored by Jordie Bellaire and with at least one cover by Becky Cloonan, the book takes place in NYC during the 70’s disco/punk era boom, as well as during the Summer of Sam and more. With the titular Kitchen referencing both Hell’s Kitchen and being a pit of an obvious, poking pun, the series follows a group of mob wives who take up the family business when their husbands are in jail, and is described as “Goodfellas meets Mob Wives.”
Of course, there’s a real deal of drama available for when those husbands get out of jail and all the women are running the show — and anyone who has watched every episode of the Sopranos certainly knows the tropes and stereotypes of how mobsters treat their wives.
It’s a great team for the book, though. Doyle and Bellaire have certainly worked together before, such as with Image’s “Mara,” and the results were quite wonderful. While Ollie Masters is relatively new to the scene (I’m not particularly familiar with his work), it’s an inventive idea and a strong pitch. I think the idea of a familial mobster war set in the 70s offers a pretty rich backdrop and texture for the series as while it’s past the mob’s prime in terms of perception within pop culture, the firm setting in New York and the cultural references that seem to surround the book already (Veritgo pitches it with “NYC. THE SEVENTIES. DISCO. PUNK. BLACKOUTS. SUMMER OF SAM. YANKEES FEVER. TIMES SQUARE.”) bode well.
Honestly, while the book may be described as Goodfellas meets Mob Wives, everything I see here sort of screams Mad Men and The Sopranos, so either way I’m intrigued.
Take a look at Becky Cloonan’s cover and a short preview below:
“The Kitchen” #1 launches in November and runs for eight issues.
