The last time Matt Kindt appeared in this publication as Best Local Cartoonist — 2008 — he was just beginning work on 3 Story: The Secret History of the Giant Man. Like Pistolwhip and Superspy before it, 3 Story attracted a bunch of accolades, awards and recognition in the national press. This year Kindt released yet another epic: Revolver. The story revolves around Sam. He's the guy who aggregates pics of drunk twentysomethings for the newspaper's online photo gallery. After the dirty bomb goes off and the government imposes martial law, Sam rescues his boss and travels cross-country to create the most kickass concept imaginable in a post-event (we won't say "-apocalyptic") world with no open communication: He helps start a newspaper! The only trouble is, all of that's a dream, and he's really picking out couches with his girlfriend. The bigger problem is that furniture purchases and teevee are probably actually the dream — and, to his horror, Sam starts hoping they are. The biggest problem is if you've made it this far without picking up one of Kindt's books. Why? Because Matt Kindt is living the dream: He writes and draws his own comics, something he's really, really good at. 3 Story and Revolver are beautiful, deceptively dense action novels that examine postwar America and the false dream of contemporary ennui (respectively) without telling you that's what they're doing. Kindt is a dandy writer, and St. Louis is proud to claim him.