Oliver Twist meets Occupy Wall Street. That's the most succinct way to describe the burgeoning comic series Bowery Boys by Ian Bertram and Cory Levine, and after years of it being hinted at online it's now found a soapbox to tell its story: online for free.

Last week, the duo announced it will serialize the Bowery Boys graphic novel with three pages a week online at BoweryBoysComic.com beginning July 4. Described as "A New York Story," Bowey Boys is set in 1850s Manhattan, where a group of young men try to reach the brass ring of the American Dream but face obstacles such as political corruption, street gangs, labor unions and rampant racism. At the center of this is Nikolaus McGovern, the only son for a God-fearing union leader who's in deep over laborer's rights, and the paths he crosses with politicians, businessmen and entrepreneurs. But in addition to that story, a big draw here is the art by Ian Bertram, a recent graduate of the School of Visual Arts in New York.

Here's a four-page sample of Bowery Boys:

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