Kill or be Killed, Welcome to the Horror Show!

This is one of those stories, where you need to keep your judgments to yourself until the last round.

Disturbing .. From the first look, this is really UNLIKE anything Brubaker ever did, not dark and unsettling .. not like this. All of this led to the way of the drawing, Phillips artwork is putting some characters in a separate frame in the same moment, or event from the others. And big wide pages for the surrounding, even creating some heinous ones.... just so we can get a better and clearer idea about how much disturbing & messy this story is. 

Unsettling ... I guess it was the time to see Brubaker go in unfamiliar roads or drifting off with a dark story, the kind is terrifying in its own twisted way, excuses everywhere. And yet, in every page... there's him and his ways all over the place. Kicking every line. 

In this story we see such a constant demanding for answers, in a dark world & unbelievably terrifying ideas... Kill or be Killed is the definition of figuring out the boundaries and standards. With a character not just talking to us, no .. but it was like Brubaker himself is talking. Trying to be smart in every turn, which made me expect almost everything, and HERE comes one of the intriguing parts of this story.. how can you still surprise us? keep holding us until the end? When we're really trying to expect your lines of your story ...

"I've read about how memory works... I know we edit our memories so we can look better in them."

Beautiful ... This is how great Kill or be Killed looks like, with the creativity of Sean, he made a hell of an atmosphere. From the ones where Dylan in a crowded places, to those ones.. filled with sadness & lostness, delivering every possible sense even in the most gorgeous ones.

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"My problems are too big to even say out loud."

This is how it felt to be in Dylan's world .. but as soon as I jump to Vol. 2 .. I can see clearly how the atmosphere is more lightened up than before, it's like we swinging .. going with the flow of the character. We experience his story, his point of view even with other storylines & characters, his thoughts and we feel his every highs & lows ... in his surroundings before his words.

Vol. 2 is longer, and I guess to give us a better look to the other characters, to move up other storylines, and a better understanding for them.

With the additions here, I still felt that everything is on the edge, from falling apart. And as soon as we come closer to the end, everything is just.. messy. Too many roads and it's kind of perfect for everything, it's unsettling from the start, so it has to continue like that. Messing with us in each part. 

"I'm pretty good at denial. I think most people are. So by the time ... I almost believed my own bullshit."

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Vol. 3 ... It was actually a new level for the story. A well-executed plan, but with Sean & Elizabeth? they made a gorgeous & an outstanding work of art, delivering the inevitable, the masterful storytelling of Ed Brubaker ... at one of his best. Also, did an interesting start, by showing the flashback of the first flashback, but the difference here, was like it's much convenient.

And everything really going to a huge of risks he must take. Shifted him to a cold, bloody, fearless version. Depending on his instinct ... with a pretty good monologue I liked.

"Fear is a weird thing. Sometimes it's a survival mechanism... Like the instinct that made our ancestors flee from saber-tooth tigers. But a lot of the time it's like handcuffs that we put on ourselves." & "What one man can do, another man can do"

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 Vol. 4 - The End

The Breakdown ... immense & immeasurable feelings in that moment, picturing it in the most wonderful way. I was scared, or somehow off the edge, but I laughed ... all and more in the same moment. God, what a wonderful start to Vol. 4 

Again, and again and AGAIN, with the moments of the inevitable in Brubaker's stories. We all waited for it, but it's just ... Awesome! Always!

Through the second & third part, it was like a session, just between us and Dylan .. trying to figure out a lot of things. Including us through theories, boundaries and motives, and how conflicted they became.

In the end, this is such a unique experience, not because it was different, but going through roads I think most writers are afraid of... you know. But I don't blame them, it's just hard to except, for some people, but also this is one of the powers of comics, I guess.

Along with the rest until the end, it was just a pure art. My God, a never disappointing duo!