Dylan has run into some serious problems during his first few months as a vigilante killer—like the two police officers who currently have him pinned down behind a bathroom door.
Kill or Be Killed #6 (Image Comics)
Observations
- Plausible: Dylan’s explanation for why he’s not nervous at all in this situation.
- Ridiculous: How he just got out of it.
- And of course there’s a taxi, too…
- Not rooting for Detective Lily Sharpe yet, but I already like her a lot.
- “So let’s call it artistic license.” Well played, Dylan. Well played.
- Dang, just when it looked like everything was going his way…
THe Verdict
Okay, so the resolution to last month’s cliffhanger ticked me off a bit. It was a little too easy/contrived, which really sticks out in a story as well crafted as this one.
That being said, the rest of the issue is wonderful.
As usual, the work Sean Phillips (art) and Elizabeth Breitweiser (colors) is superb. I hate not discussing their contribution to the book more, but I’ve honestly run out of adjectives and platitudes to describe it. Every panel works as both a portrait and a deftly sequenced part of the story—and all of it is gorgeous.
Script-wise, Brubaker shakes things up a bit by introducing a new major character/antagonist, Detective Lily Sharpe. I wasn’t sure this would work well considering Dylan’s second person POV narration, but it does, thanks in large part to a couple of brilliant (and funny lines) of dialogue.
Sharpe also makes for a perfect addition to the Kill or Be Killed cast. Where Dylan is still impulsive, frustrated, and reactive, she is resourceful, persistent, and calculating. It may be hard to root for Sharpe, but the dogged nobility of her actions makes it impossible not to like her.
Phillips also addresses the impact and fallout a vigilante killer like Dylan would create. He may only be killing loathsome criminals, but that doesn’t mean his actions won’t rattle the societal order around him—particularly with someone like Sharpe on his tail.
Speaking of Sharpe (again), she acts as the perfect antidote for anyone who may have started to grow weary of Dylan’s sympathetic and occasionally self-pitying narration. I personally still love it, but I also must admit that it’s great having someone thrust into the narrative who possesses such a concrete view of what’s right and wrong. It adds yet another fascinating layer to what has quickly establishing itself as an early front-runner for my favorite comic series of 2017.
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