Killology #1
Written & Illustrated by Alan Roberts
This past week, IDW Publishing released the first issue of Alan Robert’s Killology. Featuring three main characters that are based on actor Frank Vincent, actress Brea Grant, and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame drummer Mark Ramone, Killology is a weird pastiche of mafia flicks, hack/slash gore, Natural Born Killers, and zombie horror. If you’re into that any of those sorts of things, then Killology is well worth a look. Alan Roberts writes all of those disparate elements with hard-boiled, cuss-filled panache, and his illustrations feature just the appropriate level of blood, shadows, and decaying zombie flesh.
The book starts in prison with our three celebrity-inspired, hapless criminals languishing in a prison cell. The woman is sobbing loudly about murdering her gentleman love (you read that right). Sal, a mobster straight out of The Goodfellas, is spewing expletives in spot-on stereotypical Italian-mafioso vernacular. And a long-haired, leather-jacket wearing punk rocker is trying to act as a buffer between the two volatile personas. Needless to say, things escalate quickly to fisticuffs and bloody violence. And then zombies. And then an extended flashback sequence of how Sal found himself in the jail cell in the first place. It’s out-there, it’s loud, and it’s uber-violent.
Verdict
Again, if you’re into anything from mafia-films to slasher flicks to Tarantino-esque absurdist violence, Killology is definitely up your alley! We haven’t seen much out of the Brea Grant or Marky Ramone-inspired characters yet, but the Roberts’ concepts and ideas promise some dark, gory fun in future issues! Check it out!