REVIEW: Kill or be Killed #1

Publisher: Image

Writer: Ed Brubaker

Artist: Sean Phillips

I came to Kill or Be Killed having become a fan of Ed Brubaker (and Sean Phillips) by way of The Fade Out and Velvet, not by way of his Captain America run as most people. I never read his work there as I have never been a Captain America (Steve Rogers) fan.

I am an Ed Brubaker fan, now.

Kill or Be Killer keeps to Brubaker’s strength as a writer, but is still different then The Fade Out and Velvet as can be. (I haven’t read Criminal yet.)

The only issue I have with Kill or Be Killed is a personal taste. Either to read, or as a writer myself, I don’t care for first person POV, I like it less as narration in comics. It is a very trick style to write in an often fails.

Brubaker handles it amply, and I can live with it because of how good of a writer Brubaker is.

That said, how good is Kill or Be Killed? Good enough for me to put on my pull list.

Brubaker present us with another character study. Personally, I love character studies, which is another reason I will let the first person narrative slide. This time the character study is told from the killer’s POV, from within his mind set and beliefs.

We learn about Dylan as he tells us about himself, how he started killing people and why. He believes himself a good man, only killing good people, justified by how bad the world around him is.

But, as Brubaker dives more into his mind, is Dylan being driven by personal Demons, or a real one?

Did an attempted suicide and injury changed Dylan’s outlook on life and led him down his new path, or was it just the last push he need to go down a path he was already on the verge of.

Brubaker does a great job of getting us into the head of Dylan, making him a real person and getting us to question Dylan as he does himself.

This is a character study into the mind of a serial killer, and it seems like it will be the beginning of a long and hard path. As it should be.

As always Sean Philips’s artwork is the perfect complement to Brubaker’s story. Everything that can be said about the script, is echoed for the art. The art draws you into the mind of Dylan and never lets you out.

Here is what is the greatness of a title like Kill or Be Killed. When I read issue one, I was mixed on it. Good enough to get me hooked and want to read the second issue, but how good really?

As I wrote this review, I realized just how much Kill or be Killed got into my head. I realized just how much I was thinking about the story and what Brubaker is saying. Writing this review is when I realized just how good Kill or Be Killed Is.

Damn Brubaker . . . and Philips.

Final Thoughts:
Damn Good. Read or Be Killed.

RATING: 7.5