Killtopia Vol. 1 Review

Killtopia Vol. 1 Review

Welcome to Killtopia

A neon-drenched mega city in future Japan has been overrun by killer mecha, and humanity is being torn apart by a vicious nano-plague. Life officially sucks.

Tooled-up bounty hunters who enter the Killtopia hunting grounds salvage the rabid machines for money, power and glory!

Shinji: a rookie wrecker finds Crash, the world’s first sentient mecha, the unlikely duo team up to cure the nano-plague once and for all..

With android assassins, crazed yakuza crime lords and every wrecker in Japan on their tail, can they survive long enough to heal the world?

But is it any good?

Killtopia is a blood-splattered, high tech plunge through a neon bright world. As seems customary in this sort of cyberpunk setting. sex and violence are prevalent but they never feel like they are gratuitous. They ground the story in its setting as opposed to being too in your face. Up front it seems to be all about the superstar Wreckers like Stiletto, and the upcoming Wreck-Fest – the Wrecker superbowl, where they hunt each other instead of the mechas.

That is until we meet Shinji. This low-level, low-tech Wrecker hunts mechas for a different reason. He’s not just about the glory and the cash…although that would be nice. No, Shinji has a more honorable purpose that I’m not going to spoil here, because it was actually this that really got me hooked into this story. Writer Dave Cook has really spun an interesting tale that is far more than just human v machine carnage.

Artist Craig Paton has done an amazing job of bringing the world to life. Half the pages feel like some kind of cyberpunk Where’s Wally. There’s a hell of a lot of detail, and some fun visual gags, if you take the time to look past the foreground action. Page 20. That’s all I’m saying!

For all its neon and gore, Killtopia has serious heart and that’s what left me gaping at the end of Vol. 1 and really hoping I don’t have long to wait to find out what happens next!

Where can you get it?

If you’re at Thought Bubble Convention in Leeds this weekend then you can pick up a copy direct from Dave. He can be found in the Ask For Mercy tent, table #36. If you are in Scotland, and attending MCM Glasgow then check out the BHP Comics stand 1042 in the Comic Village, they have stock as well. If you aren’t attending either then you can pre-order direct from BHP Comics via their website ahead of the official release on October 3rd.

About author(s)

Clare Hemsworth

Hey, I'm Clare, aka Ciara or C. My current fandoms are RWBY and The Last Kingdom along with a bunch of other stuff I tend to let build up and then binge! I'm a keen, albeit amateur, cosplayer and love attending cons in various cosplays. I'm also the resident comic book girl around these parts, especially small press comics, so if you've got an indie book you want reviewed, I'm your gal! When I'm not doing the fangirl thing I am a keen long-distance hiker, having completed Te Araroa in New Zealand and The Pacific Crest Trail on the West Coast of the US.