Kill Or Be Killed is the latest from the superstar crime creators Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips. With an unreliable narrator and an increasing body count, this is one of their most ambitious stories yet. A vigilante “hero” goes deeper into the darkness of his own mind and his own needs. Killing and learning how to be good at killing are two different things. There’s nothing fun about an endgame where you end up in jail or dead, especially if you believe you’re helping the greater good. Brubaker and Phillips’ lone punisher of evildoers is now having to evolve or get caught…or shot.
One of the great pleasures of this book has been seeing these bloody events transpire through the eyes of a psychopath. Or is he a victim of supernatural circumstances beyond his understanding? An unreliable protagonist who is breaking bad harkens back to some recent masterpieces (get the hint?). And it also calls back to classic crime stories like Jim Thomspson’s The Killer Inside Me. Which makes all the sense considering the reverence this team shows for classic pulp stories.
Kill Or Be Killed has been a pulpy romp, character-driven serial thriller, and a deconstruction of vigilantism. For those of you who haven’t picked up the first collection, at the $9.99 price point you owe it to yourself to get caught up. There’s nothing better than a great exploration of crazy and a righteous human being doing morally questionable (to put it mildly) actions. Not only does this series make you question the nature of the killer’s decisions but the context the decisions are made.
If the first story was about a man learning to come to terms with killing, this second arc will be about a vigilante coming to terms with the dangers and collateral damage of his actions. There’s no black or white. There might be some blue and red though. Let that teaser mean what you think it will. Because this is one sinister inkblot to decipher. For lovers of great pulp, gorgeous artwork, and a superstar creative team flexing new muscles, this is a series you should put on your buy pile.
Collects KILL OR BE KILLED #5-10
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