Li'l Karate Pants: Never Follow Your Heart

Li'l Karate Pants: Never Follow Your Heart

By Emerson Murray

The third volume of Emerson Murray's Li'l Karate Pants collects comic strips originally published from March 8 through June 30, 2025. Set in the year 1985, the strip follows seventh grader Li'l Karate Pants, a nervous, impulsive kid, as he navigates school, heartbreak, and life in a struggling rural town.

Living in a garage with his gruff dad and horror-obsessed little brother Snikt, Li'l Karate Pants drifts through a rough world of drugs, self-harm, schoolyard fights, G.I. Beau action figures, wrestling and table top role-playing games. His friends and enemies include barefoot nerds, chicken-carrying philosophers, and chain smoking poets.

Rough-edged, funny, and unexpectedly tender, Li'l Karate Pants blends classic newspaper comic aesthetics with a punk spirit and emotional depth.

Perfect for fans of underground comics, coming-of-age stories, and 1980s weirdness.