Did you know that Keanu Reeves has just released his own comic book? It’s called BRZRKR and I wouldn’t have known about it if I didn’t google his name just now because there are new pap shots of him on his bike, which I’ll get into later, and this A.V. Club article came up. Which I read and have to read again because I have zero knowledge about comic book culture so most the references I don’t understand. I appreciate the information – and on so many levels. Like the Kickstarter campaign that funded Keanu’s project. And the fact that it’s already a big seller, considering it’s not an established brand, like Marvel, and did the biggest sales numbers for a single issue since 2015. Sarah’s probably groaning right now at my total amateur hour approach to this but I can’t be the only one. But this is the power of Keanu – to bring in interest from those who are NOT immersed in this world.
Now that I’ve been introduced to all these comic book facts, this move totally makes sense for him. If there ever was a celebrity with the cred to pull this off, get into comic books, and potentially turn it into a blockbuster film franchise, it’s Keanu Reeves.
What he’s just done is created a brand new IP that is entirely his own, leveraging the characters he’s been associated with over the years: Ted, Neo, John Wick, even himself, if you consider Keanu being Keanu in Always Be My Maybe, which was a warped (and hilarious) caricature of his own identity, and…this:
Right? It’s so smart. It’s so strategic. This is Keanu Reeves, Show Your Work edition.
Anyway, here he is in LA the other day, talking to some friends while out for a ride, and appearing quite animated while telling a story. I love these shots. I love that they’re at once a mystery, because of course we really don’t know Keanu, he remains enigmatic, but that they’re also so familiar. These are gestures we’ve seen from him over the years, over the course of so many movies. And that’s his unique magic – he remains both enough of a riddle but also not a total stranger.
