Summary
- New from IDW, Kill More #1 promises readers a darker future with its brutal beginning and cast of macabre characters.
- The series takes place in a grim and decaying city with a rising body count, and follows two detectives as they navigate a landscape filled with grotesque villains.
- The art effectively conveys visceral carnage while maintaining the visual themes of detective fiction, setting the stage for a gritty and gory challenge for the protagonists.
Contains minor spoilers for Kill More #1! New from IDW, Kill More #1 has a brutal beginning that promises readers a darker future to come. Framed as a police procedural in a grim landscape, the story is standard enough to feel familiar to fans of the genre. However, based on some small elements of the story, this series will set itself apart from others very soon due to its cast of macabre characters.
Kill More has the creative team of Scott Bryan Wilson, Max Allan Fuchs, Valentina Briški, and SBW. The series takes place in Colonia, a city with a rising body count and no hope in sight. People have fled the town, leaving behind empty buildings and failing systems. Even the police force is thinning out, leaving Detective Aaron Aira (Crimes Against Persons) and eventual ally Detective Mwanawa Tarver (Fugitive Apprehension/Missing Persons) to sort out what remains.
IDW's Kill More Starts Simply Enough, But Promises Deadlier Future
The main draw of this ten-issue limited series - and this issue - is the grotesque villains that are making life in Colonia hell. This debut reveals the cover-crashing Ethel, while also showing The Sufferer, and Lady Facesmasher. Also featured is a man who wants to go simply by Giraffe. There will be more villainous killers to come, including two named Talking Head and The Obituary Machine. This cast of villains is far more dastardly than the usual comic rogue gallery, with no superheroes in sight to take them down. The killers to come and futuristic world promise a gritty and gory challenge for Aira and Tarver to tackle with very few resources to do the job.
Gritty police procedurals aren't new in comics, but Kill More will likely shine due to its destructive, homicidal characters. The amount of murder occurring in this one location, as well as the downfall of the city collectively, makes it a perfect arena for dreary tones and shocking events. Showing a darker side of true crime fandom, this is just a brief glimpse at what the creative team could bring readers. The art conveys visceral carnage very effectively without losing the typical visual themes of detective fiction. It allows readers to slink through the pages of chaos in an organized, smooth way with the alteration of blues and reds, sometimes giving way to very fitting sickly greens and ominous purples.
Thus far, the police characters are less interesting than their villainous counterparts, as each has just been left to do their best in a terrible situation. There isn't much information known about either of them, though their working conditions create a decent deal of sympathy given what they're facing. Aira's push to continue working his cases and Tarver's lack of experience in grotesque dealings could make an intriguing pairing to fight the threats ahead. Readers might come for the dark, futuristic detective procedural but they'll stay for the over-the-top villainy should the series deliver on its promise. Comic fans can check out IDW's newest series, Kill More #1, when it releases September 13.