Created by musician and self-described Z-list YouTuber Benjamin “Rusty Cage” Steele, Requiem of the Crazies is a planned 8-issue indie comic series based off his own song of the same name.
After having lost his dreams of becoming a rock star, the protagonist Dante has settled for a lowly dead-end office job and a crappy apartment with his girlfriend. One day in his pathetic life, Dante has it worse when he’s fired from his job and comes home to find his girlfriend sleeping with another man. Just before he can end it all in a dirty street alley, an old bum named Vernon convinces him to join him in the world of homelessness.
And so begins a dark, gritty tale of corruption, a diabolical cult leader, and cannibalism as the two make their journey through the dark underbelly of a nightmarish city.
Read the first 3 chapters here.
Tropes present in Requiem of the Crazies
- Art Shift: The artwork varies between traditional inks and digital media. This was due to Rusty experimenting with multiple methods beforehand while making the comic.
- Author Avatar: Rusty seemed to have based part of Dante's life on his own, specifically his dreams of being a famous musician being crushed and getting relegated to a dull office job for what seemed like the rest of his life. Dante's life just got a little worse afterwards.
- Bungled Suicide: How Vernon meets Dante.
- Driven to Suicide: Dante resorts to this at the beginning, only interrupted by Vernon.
- Loser Protagonist: Dante was just another guy whose dreams didn't come true, stuck in a dead-end job and a girlfriend who cheats on him, even before he ended up homeless and suicidal. Vernon calls him out on this before he dies.
- Shout-Out: The naming of the two protagonists seems to be a reference to The Divine Comedy, with Vernon acting as Dante's guide through the hell of homeless life.
