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21 Down
21 Down
Preston Kills has an incredible a gift of second sight given to him when he was a boy. There’s just one the gift will kill Preston when he turns 21, meaning he has only an all-too-brief year left to live. Judgment day is a year away, and while Preston tries to live his life as normally as he can, he knows that it will get more intense and out of control from here on out. When a mysterious woman called Mickey Rinaldi appears at Preston’s door, his world is turned upside-down – as Mickey presents the idea that he might be able to save himself. Self-preservation can make people do some crazy things. For Preston, facing a death sentence challenges his sense of morality. He must take the easy path and wait for death, or get out there and try to make something happen, even if it means failure. Now he has no other option but to seek the truth . . . about the mysterious Herod who granted him powers and about himself.
144 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2003
About the author
Justin Gray
740 books80 followersJustin currently writes Novels, Graphic Novels, Video Games, Screenplays.
He has held various jobs including, fossil hunting, microphotography of 20 million year old insects and plants trapped in amber, seminars and exhibitions on the cleaning, mining and identification of prehistoric insects for the American Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian. He traveled to the mountains of the Dominican Republic and mined amber.
He has also worked as a victim advocate for Victims Assistance of Westchester, a not-for-profit organization that helps victims of crime.
He has held various jobs including, fossil hunting, microphotography of 20 million year old insects and plants trapped in amber, seminars and exhibitions on the cleaning, mining and identification of prehistoric insects for the American Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian. He traveled to the mountains of the Dominican Republic and mined amber.
He has also worked as a victim advocate for Victims Assistance of Westchester, a not-for-profit organization that helps victims of crime.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 29, 2020
"It's getting to be quite the problem, isn't it? The 'superpowers,' and the price you pay for having them." -- Sam Oslo, family friend
"I used to think so, Sam . . . I'm not sure anymore." -- Preston Kills, troubled young man
21 Down: The Conduit takes a not particularly original plot device about a person cursed with some special abilities - and he doesn't take a secret identity, costume, etc. - who experiences a fair amount of unhappiness because of it. Preston Kills knows he will pass away on his impending 21st birthday, but in the meantime he uses his 'super-powers' - if he lays his hands on the recently deceased he will have a vision of the person's last moments - to assist his NYPD homicide detective brother. (Yes, a homicide detective who is also named Kills - sounds like his career path was written in the stars.)
Things go awry for Preston when he inadvertently allies himself with a slightly older and enigmatic icy blonde federal agent Mickey Rinaldi. (This is a role Jennifer Lawrence, in uber-confident mode, was born to play.) It turns out there are a number of other young adults in the country in the same situation as Preston, although their abilities vary. The story then goes the unsettling route as this duo hits the road - they encounter an eighteen year-old gal who flippantly and disturbingly uses her mind control to cause innocent people to commit a number of felonies (murder, rape, assaults), and later there's a murderous demon disguised as a clergyman - and the story is soon revealed to have an unsurprising government conspiracy angle. It all ends on a cliff-hanger of sorts, but there were no subsequent volumes (!). That's too bad - it could've made for an interesting limited series.
"I used to think so, Sam . . . I'm not sure anymore." -- Preston Kills, troubled young man
21 Down: The Conduit takes a not particularly original plot device about a person cursed with some special abilities - and he doesn't take a secret identity, costume, etc. - who experiences a fair amount of unhappiness because of it. Preston Kills knows he will pass away on his impending 21st birthday, but in the meantime he uses his 'super-powers' - if he lays his hands on the recently deceased he will have a vision of the person's last moments - to assist his NYPD homicide detective brother. (Yes, a homicide detective who is also named Kills - sounds like his career path was written in the stars.)
Things go awry for Preston when he inadvertently allies himself with a slightly older and enigmatic icy blonde federal agent Mickey Rinaldi. (This is a role Jennifer Lawrence, in uber-confident mode, was born to play.) It turns out there are a number of other young adults in the country in the same situation as Preston, although their abilities vary. The story then goes the unsettling route as this duo hits the road - they encounter an eighteen year-old gal who flippantly and disturbingly uses her mind control to cause innocent people to commit a number of felonies (murder, rape, assaults), and later there's a murderous demon disguised as a clergyman - and the story is soon revealed to have an unsurprising government conspiracy angle. It all ends on a cliff-hanger of sorts, but there were no subsequent volumes (!). That's too bad - it could've made for an interesting limited series.
August 16, 2024
I loved those 12 issues, the art is amazing the story is well told and there’s just the right amount of mistery and romance to the sci-fi plot, for that reason i am extremely sad that the next season was never writen, i really wish it was, this is a good comic and is worth the read even without the closure is still very fun
August 19, 2018
Preston Kills is an inker, working in a tattoo parlor. His brother, Robert, is a detective. Their parents died in a house fire and they're all each other has. Preston also has a weird ability, given to him by a man named Herod - if he touches a person's skin, he can see things - all of them related to death. How a person died, notably, so Rob uses Preston's ability to help solve murders.
Preston visits a website for these types of 'not really superheroes' but the site shuts down when he tries to access it. And then an older woman, impeccably dressed, shows up and saves his life - Mickey Rinaldi, FBI. Except she may not be all that she says she is and Preston isn't at all sure he should trust her.
Seven chapters of a comic I've never heard of, with incredible art and an intense story line - and there may not be any more if it anywhere. But this was a great ride while it lasted.
Preston visits a website for these types of 'not really superheroes' but the site shuts down when he tries to access it. And then an older woman, impeccably dressed, shows up and saves his life - Mickey Rinaldi, FBI. Except she may not be all that she says she is and Preston isn't at all sure he should trust her.
Seven chapters of a comic I've never heard of, with incredible art and an intense story line - and there may not be any more if it anywhere. But this was a great ride while it lasted.
February 23, 2026
This was not at all what I expected when I picked up this book. It turned out to be a really good story and I like that at the end they give you a direction that it could be going. I’m a big fan of science fiction, fantasy, and even supernatural stories and this one kind of touches all of them basically just a good weed that I would recommend to pretty much. It probably should include some sugar warnings though. It touches on quite a bit of death with a lot of blood.
January 23, 2019
interesting enough that I would read the follow ups, but probably not actively look for them.
February 2, 2009
This graphic novel was interesting and makes me want to continue reading the series. I would like to know more about how the super powers develop, learn more about Harod, and see how the story develops.
Unfortunately, this book was published in 2003 and I don't think any sequels to the original run of comic books was ever published.
Unfortunately, this book was published in 2003 and I don't think any sequels to the original run of comic books was ever published.
December 9, 2009
Intelligent, spandex-free "superhero" comic about a young man who can see how people died when he touches their bodies and an untrustworthy FBI agent who wants to use him in a dangerous investigation.
March 6, 2014
talk about cliffhangers
May 21, 2016
Lástima que este cómic se haya cancelado.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews