We all love Atomic Robo here. That’s no secret. We love Clevinger’s writing, and we adore Scott Wegener’s art. So when I heard that Wegener had done the art for a Chris Yost (the phenomenal X-Force, Red Robin) mini on Image, and that it was coming out soon, I got really excited. I said to myself, “Man, I wish any of the comic book stores I visited would hold that!” And then, you know what happened? One day, while searching through trades, I saw a copy of Killer Of Demons and I said, “Oh. Hell. Yes.” I snatched it up and immediately read it as soon as I hopped on my train ride home. And you know what I thought about it? Well, I’ll tell you what I thought about it!
This book is FREAKING amazing. If you just want to know if you should buy this book, you should buy this book. It’s funny, it’s exciting, it’s well written, well drawn, and I absolutely love it. If you see it – buy it.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s break it down. Killer of Demons is about Dave Sloan, a junior account executive at an advertising agency, and the fabled Killer of Demons. A little angel named Uriel tapped him in the name of God to slay demons as part of an ancient pact between Heaven and Hell, and now Dave Sloan sees demons everywhere he goes. And he’s got to kill them. Only problem is – Dave’s really not sure if what he’s seeing is real or not. Dave thinks he might be crazy. I mean, a little fat baby angel? Demons? Yet he keeps killing anyway. And Satan is not happy with this. Not one bit.
That is all I’m going to tell you about it. In all honesty, the plot is so amazingly ridiculous and hilarious I just don’t want to spoil anything. The cast of characters that appear in this story are so unique and hilarious that I could barely stop laughing as I read it on the train. In fact, I’m pretty sure I made a scene with how much I was giggling and pointing at the images I was seeing in the book. Chris Yost has always been a preferred writer for me, but this is above and beyond the call of duty. It’s a brand new side to him that I’ve never experienced, and it’s just so amazingly fun and hilarious. He hits all the right comedic notes, and creates a character that I am dying to see re-appear in subsequent volumes. We have quite a little mythos going here, and it lasts only three issues. Can you believe that? I’m gushing like crazy, and this is just a three-issue mini! I believe that should tell you something about this piece, that clearly the writing is so phenomenal you become an addict after something seemingly so short.
Of course, a huge part of all of this is Wegener’s artwork. You can also tell that this was a very easy transition for Scott Wegener to make. Going from Atomic Robo to this is like going from one type of delicious Arizona iced drink, such as the Sweet Tea, to another type of delicious Arizona iced tea, such as Arnold Palmer. In fact, Atomic Robo does make a very tiny cameo (but I won’t say where). Scott Wegener has a very great style of artwork that is perfect for a book like this, or just Image comics in general. It’s almost like Mike Mignola and Cory Walker and Ryan Ottley all met and said, “Ok, Scott. Here is our gift to you. Go forth and conquer.” And conquer Wegener has. The book, in all it’s stylized glory, flows from page to page smoothly, and it’s all thanks to Wegener’s eye. If you liked his work for Atomic Robo, then you’ll see some very familiar styling going on in this book, and it’s just as good as everything you’ve already come to expect from the man.
I don’t quite know what else to tell you! I’m gushing like crazy over the book, but it really was an absolutely amazing book. There only is one thing I do not like about it, and that’s simply that there needs to be more. I need Killer Of Demons 2: Killectric Boogaloo (no, that’s not the official title of a proposed sequel, but if they use it I’ll feel proud). The ending is so incredibly open ended, with so much room for more, that I am practically begging the comic god’s for such a blessing as a continuation. With that remark, I can only pray that you will do this world a favor and pick up the trade, showing the world, Image, and Yost and Wegener that there is room and need for more Killer of Demons. It is a positively wonderful little book, and I can’t recommend it enough. For just $9.35, you know you can do this.
