Killtopia #3 Review
If you’ve been a reader of my reviews for a while you will know that I am a huge fan of the Killtopia series, written by Dave Cook. Some months back Dave got in touch to ask me to proofread the script for Killtopia #3 (that’s a thing I do over HERE). I leapt at the chance but almost wish I hadn’t as the wait to see how the frankly insane story would look with art has been agonising. There were certain pages that I knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, were going to blow my mind when I saw them. Sneak peeks on social media and via kickstarter seemed to confirm my thoughts.
Dave sent over a review PDF of Killtopia but I wanted to have a full day free so I could re-read the first two volumes before diving in. Today was that day.
And I was right…
Since this is an advance review I will try not to spoil anything too much, but no promises!
Art Shift
The previous two volumes were written by Dave with art by Craig Paton. From this volume, art duties have been taken over by Clark Bint (Frank At Home On The Farm) with colours by NL Ashworth. There’s a new letterer for this volume, with Micah Myers taking over from Robin Jones. There is a small shift in style, noticeable but not jarring. All the major players are present and correct, and perfectly recognisable. Killtopia itself is still the vibrant, gore splattered, mecha infested cyber-slum we’ve all come to know and love. That’s in large part due to Lou’s colours which are just glorious, but Clark has done a phenomenal job in picking up the reins of an already established world.
There were 4 things in the script that I was seriously excited to see on the page (without giving too much away) – the #I/O sequence beginning with Crash and Omi, Nezumi’s arrival at Lucky-7 HQ, the hunt for Crash, and Blaze and Shinji’s trip to meet the Weaver.
All 4 actually made me yell out loud as I was reading. They were all better than I had ever envisaged.
*chef’s kiss*
So hard to crop this to not spoil the crap out of it but this page is NUTS
I love the fact that if this crew weren’t armed to the teeth this could be from a VERY different comic
Everything about the description of this page had me in hysterics, seeing the way Clark and Lou brought it to life was absolute perfection!
There were other moments too. So spectacularly badass was one that I stopped reading to tweet about it. I mean…
helloooooo Shinji
The same detail is present in the backgrounds, the in jokes for the careful observer. Killtopia has probably been one of my favourite series to re-read purely because there is always something new to spot in the crazily detailed backgrounds. In previous volumes there were sight gags aplenty, and Killtopia #3 is no different. I think my favourite is a toss up between the Flirtr logo (you’ll see) and the “pop-ups” when Shinji and Blaze head to meet the Weaver (above). I must have spent about 5 minutes just poring over those pages, giggling as I spotted more.
Going Deeper
Killtopia #3 takes us much further into the world that Cook has created, building up backstory for how Killtopia came to be and several of the major characters. I remember back in my review of the first volume I said that Killtopia had a surprising amount of heart under all the carnage. #3 develops that. We get glimpses into the origins of the mecha and a little bit of info on Stiletto too. What fascinated me when reading, and this is clearly an integral part of the way Dave writes given his other series (Vessels), is how intricately woven this story is.
This volume brings the various strands of the story crashing together in a series of revelations that left me absolutely stunned upon first reading. We find out that things are far more interconnected than I ever would or could have imagined. Small, almost throwaway moments from earlier volumes are brought back and slotted into the wider story. I can’t wait to see what else from earlier volumes becomes important as this story races to its conclusion.
In the same way that this volume brings everything together it also blows it wide apart. There are 2 more volumes to come in this story, and I have absolute confidence that Dave, Clark and Lou will absolutely smash all expectations. This series is set for great things, of that I have no doubt.
Where to get Killtopia #3
You can pick up the first 2 volumes of Killtopia now from the BHP Comics store or Amazon (outside the UK). Vol 3 should be available for pre-order by the end of this week (if you didn’t back the kickstarter last year).
