Kill or be Killed 2 (September 2016)
9/9/16
It’s definitely a better issue of Kill or be Killed, though Brubaker spends about a third of the issue just writing first person prose from the still obnoxious protagonist. And the prose isn’t particularly good. I mean, if it’s supposed to be the first person perspective from some annoying twenty-something entitled white kid who doesn’t know anything about writing prose, it’s fine. It also seems like Brubaker’s using it to give Phillips less to draw and, it’s already clear Kill or be Killed isn’t going to be one of Brubaker’s successes, so at least let the reader have as much great Phillips art as possible.
And there is some great Phillips art. There’s some paintings even–though it almost seems like they’re matching the story to what Phillips might have already around.
This issue doesn’t have the demon, which raises some questions (is the protagonist just insane?), and the protagonist–who’s so memorable I don’t even remember his name, annoying entitled white dude sums him up just as well (who’s shitty to his mom)–finds his first guilty victim. A thinking man’s Punisher this comic ain’t.
But it’s just all right enough, with Phillips getting just enough to do–a trip to upstate New York, some flashbacks involving the protagonist’s father (the guy’s family life is more interesting than anything Brubaker has for him to do as a demonically empowered vigilante), those awesome paintings of Phillips’s–to keep Kill or be Killed going. But it’s not a good comic. It probably won’t ever be a good comic.
CREDITS
Writer, Ed Brubaker; artist, Sean Phillips; colorist, Elizabeth Breitweiser; publisher, Image Comics.
Kill or be Killed 1 (August 2016)
8/10/16
What if the Punisher weren’t an ex-Marine, what if he were just some emo rich(ish) white dude grad student who had to kill to keep a demon from killing him? As punishment for trying to commit suicide. There’s the gimmick to Kill or be Killed. The draw is gorgeous Sean Phillips New York City artwork–he seems more taken with the setting than the characters, in fact. The characters he rushes with occasionally, the setting is always perfect.
But how’s Ed Brubaker’s writing? It’s not great. It might not even be good. Kill or be Killed is a really strange way to do this story. Not in how Brubaker structures it–the narration from the protagonist is obvious but not in a bad way. No, it’s in what Brubaker does with that narration. He makes the protagonist really, really, really annoying.
It’s not even clear if Brubaker is just making him annoying for melodramatic purposes or if he’s making him annoying because the reader is supposed to find him annoying. It’s up in the air. At one point, the lead is talking about cops killing innocent black kids, then next he’s whining about being a trust fund baby who didn’t get to go to NYU grad school until he was twenty-eight. And, guess what, the girl he likes didn’t like him back.
It might work out, it doesn’t seem impossible it could work out. But it seems unlikely. Especially since Phillips has got no time for the demon. Kill’s demon is a visual tranquilizer.
The comic’s not terrible, it’s just terrible obvious. But the art’s real good. It does have the art going for it.
Oh, no. It’s an ongoing series.
CREDITS
Writer, Ed Brubaker; artist, Sean Phillips; colorist, Elizabeth Breitweiser; publisher, Image Comics.
Robocop: Last Stand 8 (March 2014)
3/13/14
So Ed Brisson gets the job of sending the original Robocop into the sunset. My first thought–he does an admirable job, though he could have easily turned it into three issues. He’s got a lot of ideas for how to bring things together. And that spark, even if it’s hilarious fan fulfillment, leads me to my second thought.
It’ll be too bad if Boom! doesn’t continue with the license for these types of series. Experimental ones, where an artist like Öztekin gets free run. Or, if the artist doesn’t get free run, at least it appears he or she does.
This issue, with Brisson’s writing, makes me want more of he and Öztekin’s Robocop. Maybe a prequel… the creative spark seems like it might have mileage.
Robocop, regardless of marketers, was never a film needing a sequel. But Brisson and Öztekin give that franchise a fine send off.
B
CREDITS
Writer, Ed Brisson; artist, Korkut Öztekin; colorist, Michael Garland; letterer, Ryan Ferrier; editors, Alex Galer and Ian Brill; publisher, Boom! Studios.
The Stop Button 