Scan barcode
A review by chigangrel
The Cull, Volume 1 by Kelly Thompson
5.0
Thanks to NetGalley and Image Comics for the advanced copy.
Obsessed. I need more of this immediately.
One of the things I love most about Image is that they give a lot of opportunities for character work in their indie titles, unafraid of writers being wordy or trying new things. Typically art and writing in a comic compliment each other, because as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, and so the script for a comic doesn't necessarily need paragraphs of narration or dialogue but I think The Cull benefits from its characters wordiness since the art panels need to do the heavy lifting of setting for a sci-fi/fantasy/horror comic. The art is telling a lot of story all on its own.
Kelly Thompson's The Cull is one part cosmic horror, one part superhero origin story, with a hell of a twist in issue 5 that you start to suspect but don't want to be true. Each character feels like a real, unique, fleshed out person. We're drip fed bits and pieces, though we'd don't get enough time with everyone since this is just the first five issues, but we get enough to know them and want to know more.
Mattia de Iulis's art is STUNNING. Like, these books are so gorgeous. The art waivers between photorealism and surreal almost-photorealism, which is perfect for a story about liminal spaces. It makes everything feel very dreamlike but with a veil of uncanny valley vibes. I also highly recommend checking out all the various covers for each issues because WOW. Like I want some of these framed.
But the end of the volume I was dying for more. I need to continue following these kids' adventures. I need to know they're OK. I need to know more about the liminal space. It's all so beautiful and fascinating and I cannot wait to see where Thompson takes it all.
Obsessed. I need more of this immediately.
One of the things I love most about Image is that they give a lot of opportunities for character work in their indie titles, unafraid of writers being wordy or trying new things. Typically art and writing in a comic compliment each other, because as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, and so the script for a comic doesn't necessarily need paragraphs of narration or dialogue but I think The Cull benefits from its characters wordiness since the art panels need to do the heavy lifting of setting for a sci-fi/fantasy/horror comic. The art is telling a lot of story all on its own.
Kelly Thompson's The Cull is one part cosmic horror, one part superhero origin story, with a hell of a twist in issue 5 that you start to suspect but don't want to be true. Each character feels like a real, unique, fleshed out person. We're drip fed bits and pieces, though we'd don't get enough time with everyone since this is just the first five issues, but we get enough to know them and want to know more.
Mattia de Iulis's art is STUNNING. Like, these books are so gorgeous. The art waivers between photorealism and surreal almost-photorealism, which is perfect for a story about liminal spaces. It makes everything feel very dreamlike but with a veil of uncanny valley vibes. I also highly recommend checking out all the various covers for each issues because WOW. Like I want some of these framed.
But the end of the volume I was dying for more. I need to continue following these kids' adventures. I need to know they're OK. I need to know more about the liminal space. It's all so beautiful and fascinating and I cannot wait to see where Thompson takes it all.