Comic Review: The Kill Lock #1 (IDW Publishing)

The Kill Lock #1, from IDW, introduces the idea that a kill switch can be used to keep criminals in line. If one dies, they all die.

The switch in terms of the concept is that these bad guys are in outer space, and are not human.

Livio Damondelli (Transformers) brings us the story and art of The Kill Lock. It’s a quadruple threat: four robots are each found guilty of a severe crime and are banished from their homeworlds. So, they’re on an ice planet. And yes, there is a cave involved. I love caves! On this icy surface (or subsurface), a soldier, an addict, a murderer, and a child robot find themselves linked together, forced to cooperate to survive.

It’s rough, it’s full of swearing, and the graphics are stellar. There is the constant tension of what a bunch of unpredictable convicts might do when they feel threatened. There are stunning off-world visuals and off colour dialogue. It’s funny, exasperating and touching.

Will this gang learn to shoot straight and ask each other the right questions? Let’s hope so. There’s more than enough here to make you want to come back for issue 2.

Bonus pages include pinup drawings of the characters done by guest artists.

IDW, The Kill Lock #1, $3.99 for 24 pages of content plus bonuses. Mature readers