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Kill 6 Billion Demons #1
Kill 6 Billion Demons, Book 1
In this collection of the first story arc of the popular webcomic Kill 6 Billion Demons, sorority sister Allison Ruth must travel to Throne, the ancient city at the center of the multiverse, in an epic bid to save her boyfriend from the clutches of the seven evil kings that rule creation. Includes excerpts from in-universe religious texts, stories, and more.
104 pages, Paperback
First published September 13, 2016
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1999 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 274 reviews
June 7, 2021
Could have been called "Introduction of 6 Billion Characters and Large Masses of Infodumps". I felt completely overwhelmed the whole time I was reading this. After the initial setup, some demons kidnap Allison's boyfriend and insert a key into her forehead and she goes to another dimension where 90% of the book is a big info dump on the world Parkinson-Morgan has created. It was like reading the technical manuals to a new RPG. You could really just read the first 10 pages and the last 10 pages and skip the rest because it's too much to retain even though 90% of it probably will not ever come into play.
You also may be better off reading the webcomic. The colors were too dark to make out a lot of the panels and the panels were just too small. The book was much smaller than your standard comic.
You also may be better off reading the webcomic. The colors were too dark to make out a lot of the panels and the panels were just too small. The book was much smaller than your standard comic.
December 2, 2016
This is going to come as a shock to some of you, but, in the instance of the excellent Kill 6 Billion Demons I actually prefer the webcomic to the physical object. Yes, I am normally quite adamant in my preference for physical artifact over photons, but when I spotted this at my friendly local book store last night and picked it up off the shelf, I realized something . . . about myself . . . and my age . . . and my eyes.
I've been following Tom Parkinson-Morgan's outstanding Kill 6 Billion Demons for quite some time now. I was thrilled to hear that he was publishing the work as a physical book. "Sweet," thought I, "the ultimate edition of this awesome comic". Yes, I already knew that the art was simply amazeballs and the plot had enough twists and turns to wrest it from the often flat and uninteresting landscape of comic book storytelling. I had grown to find some degree of depth in the characters that inhabit the strange heavens/hells of Throne, including the newcomer, Allison, a mortal human pulled into a world beyond her understanding. The setting, I knew, was a hallucinatory swirl of gods (alive, dead, and dying), angels, demiurges, and devils (including Allison's reluctant guide, Cio), colored so richly that one wonders if the very ink was infused with LSD. Parkinson-Morgan's art is finely-detailed, and his sense of scope is, at times, breathtaking, especially when one sees the sweeping vistas he uses to provide a birds-eye "map" view of the environs of throne. I was thrilled to be able to hold the book in my greedy little hands and exchange debit-photons for it.
And this is where the problem of the little book comes in.
Little . . .
It's too little. And my eyes, strained by decades of reading, are not getting any better.
Simply put, though I love the idea of the physical book, I much prefer the webcomic.
I never thought I'd say that. But it must be said.
Should you go buy the book? By all means, feel free. But I didn't. For me, too many intricacies are lost without a large image on a monitor, in this case. This is a world to be explored down to the smallest details, and I can't stand the thought of missing something that I know is there merely because of dogmatic devotion to the physical page. Instead of buying the book, I am supporting the artist by donating at the website. With photon-money that the artist can spend online or transform into real paper money at his leisure.
For once, technology wins.
I've been following Tom Parkinson-Morgan's outstanding Kill 6 Billion Demons for quite some time now. I was thrilled to hear that he was publishing the work as a physical book. "Sweet," thought I, "the ultimate edition of this awesome comic". Yes, I already knew that the art was simply amazeballs and the plot had enough twists and turns to wrest it from the often flat and uninteresting landscape of comic book storytelling. I had grown to find some degree of depth in the characters that inhabit the strange heavens/hells of Throne, including the newcomer, Allison, a mortal human pulled into a world beyond her understanding. The setting, I knew, was a hallucinatory swirl of gods (alive, dead, and dying), angels, demiurges, and devils (including Allison's reluctant guide, Cio), colored so richly that one wonders if the very ink was infused with LSD. Parkinson-Morgan's art is finely-detailed, and his sense of scope is, at times, breathtaking, especially when one sees the sweeping vistas he uses to provide a birds-eye "map" view of the environs of throne. I was thrilled to be able to hold the book in my greedy little hands and exchange debit-photons for it.
And this is where the problem of the little book comes in.
Little . . .
It's too little. And my eyes, strained by decades of reading, are not getting any better.
Simply put, though I love the idea of the physical book, I much prefer the webcomic.
I never thought I'd say that. But it must be said.
Should you go buy the book? By all means, feel free. But I didn't. For me, too many intricacies are lost without a large image on a monitor, in this case. This is a world to be explored down to the smallest details, and I can't stand the thought of missing something that I know is there merely because of dogmatic devotion to the physical page. Instead of buying the book, I am supporting the artist by donating at the website. With photon-money that the artist can spend online or transform into real paper money at his leisure.
For once, technology wins.
December 9, 2016
Bullet Review:
People these days get paid to write all sorts of gibberish. It's not until the last 6 pages that there's ANYTHING of a sensical plot.
But goddamn, that art!
People these days get paid to write all sorts of gibberish. It's not until the last 6 pages that there's ANYTHING of a sensical plot.
But goddamn, that art!
September 8, 2016
I'll be honest, sometimes I don't know what's going on but thank goodness the heroine feels the same way. This is phenomenal. The world created here is so deep and rich upheld by some amazing artwork and beautiful illustrations. The story moves well and never drags and is altogether a brilliant read. Fantasy, philosophy, history, myth...Kill 6 Billion Demons is amazing
Read
February 10, 2017Bleah...very definitely not my sort of thing. I valiantly tried to keep going, but about a third of the way through, I gave up. This is impenetrable and certainly not worth the time I was spending to try to figure out WTF was going on.
September 10, 2016
Must Read
Best start to a new Comic series I have read in a long time. Hits the mark on every point. Great Art work, well developed characters and dialogue, plot that is both compelling and unpredictable and world building that is simultaneously richly realised yet gradually revealed. I thoroughly enjoyed this and I hugely recommend it to everyone else. Looking forward to the next installments with baited breath and I'm sure there is a future for this story in other media. Quite simply Brilliant!
Best start to a new Comic series I have read in a long time. Hits the mark on every point. Great Art work, well developed characters and dialogue, plot that is both compelling and unpredictable and world building that is simultaneously richly realised yet gradually revealed. I thoroughly enjoyed this and I hugely recommend it to everyone else. Looking forward to the next installments with baited breath and I'm sure there is a future for this story in other media. Quite simply Brilliant!
September 2, 2021
Full review to come once I finish the series. I can see how some folks might be overwhelmed by this book, like the protagonist: they are thrown into a weird (and visually striking) world with smatterings of exposition to ground the reader thrown in. It may have helped that I had already read this chunk of the story from the webcomic and I can assure you the story is well worth sticking with.
November 21, 2018
A beautiful, creative world. Also exceedingly metal.
April 16, 2022
This came highly recommended to me by my (very persistent) fiancé. While it's a bit info-dumpy and hard to follow, it's a lot of fun too. I'll be continuing with the series :)
September 24, 2020
Couldn’t decide if this is the best or worst thing I’ve read since Neil Geiman’s Sandman. The artwork is just as imaginative though👌🏾. But I felt just as lost as the main character. In a world (ahem multiverse) trying to find out what the hell 71 is going on.
June 10, 2022
cool beans
February 8, 2018
This book really confused me and also really intrigued me. The book really didn't get me connected to any of the characters, they immediately jump into throwing them into a different world and throw a bunch of crazy stuff at Allison all at once. I wish i got to know her first, that she loves sailor moon and is a college sorority girl. I kinda hope in the next volume she does become a magic girl and kick demons butts because that would be really cool! Anyway, there is a ton going on and the story telling is really clunky and I'm interested in seeing where it goes. And my goodness that art is fantastic! The world and demons are so cool and creative looking! ~Ashley
March 4, 2020
If there were a comic for TSR's Planescape setting, this would be it. Oh, it's not Planescape precisely, but it similarly presents a grungy, modern fantasy realm focused on the center of the multiverse (Throne). I have to assume it was influenced.
More specifically, this is a great world creation and the author's writing is a bit muddy at times, but it's muddy in a good way, suggesting depth and mysteries. The main character is intriguing, especially as she changes over the course of the book, and even though the plot is a bit light so far, it's interesting to see where it's going.
I'll definitely be looking at more of this.
More specifically, this is a great world creation and the author's writing is a bit muddy at times, but it's muddy in a good way, suggesting depth and mysteries. The main character is intriguing, especially as she changes over the course of the book, and even though the plot is a bit light so far, it's interesting to see where it's going.
I'll definitely be looking at more of this.
June 22, 2016
I love webcomics. They are a great place for artists and writers to test out ideas and hone skills. Due to this fact they also sometimes end suddenly and incomplete (Platinum Grit) when artists and authors get paying jobs.
So I am thrilled this one is getting a print edition. I am pleased this became his paying job.
The summary write up on this is pretty terrible and makes this comic sound like a snoozer. It is not. Really. The art is stunning. The story is engaging. Its fun! Demons! Swords! Drinking contests! Sailor Moon references! Multi-Verse!
Fun.
So I am thrilled this one is getting a print edition. I am pleased this became his paying job.
The summary write up on this is pretty terrible and makes this comic sound like a snoozer. It is not. Really. The art is stunning. The story is engaging. Its fun! Demons! Swords! Drinking contests! Sailor Moon references! Multi-Verse!
Fun.
March 15, 2020
The story is kind of a gibberish mess, but one with a lot of potential!
The artwork is full of colors and quite stunning visually, in some instances it reminded me of the Orc Stain arc by James Stokoe, another underated illustrator/artist imho.
If you`re into the stories about a demon world full of them and also fallen Angels, and some mysteries at hand, what else (?!), then you should give it a short try.
The artwork is full of colors and quite stunning visually, in some instances it reminded me of the Orc Stain arc by James Stokoe, another underated illustrator/artist imho.
If you`re into the stories about a demon world full of them and also fallen Angels, and some mysteries at hand, what else (?!), then you should give it a short try.
June 18, 2021
The art and style are fantastic, but the story is all over the place. Parkinson-Morgan tries to shove so much story, characters, and backstory at you at once that it quickly becomes overwhelming.
September 30, 2021
Sorry…I like weird, but too weird for me.
Read
July 9, 2017From the same school of bonkers maximalism as Prophet or Orc Stain, we get a few pages of an awkward attempt at a first shag here on Earth before cosmic entities interrupt and the story shifts to the teeming, crumbling metropolis at the heart of creation, which used to be Heaven but now resembles Mos Eisley's disreputable uncle. The reader is initially as clueless as the fish-out-of-water human protagonist, but for us as her some meaning does cohere from the strangeness, aided by gorgeous cutaways which help bring home the sheer scale of invention at play here. And then everything shifts again...I've very little idea where this is going, but that isn't really the point of the exercise.
August 19, 2016
Kill Six Billion Demons is a comic that's probably one of the most visually exciting things I've seen in a long time. The lore drops can get a little too intense for its own good but this is a must to check out for anyone who likes weird fantasy art.
You can read my full review here: http://www.comicbastards.com/comics/r...
You can read my full review here: http://www.comicbastards.com/comics/r...
October 4, 2016
A crazy, insane comic that makes very little sense and yet is great fun to try to follow all the same!
August 29, 2020
DE LO MEJOR DE ESTE AÑO.
Una génesis del Todo extraordinaria, mitología inconmensurable y sumativa, innumerables y patibularios seres, culturas disociadas imposibles de asemejar con tamañas peculiaridades que tiene cada una . Aún siendo que tiene considerable cantidad de información para entender el universo, los diálogos son frescos y con varios tonos cómicos que le dan una ligereza muy disfrutable. A pensar de lo increíblemente fantástico que es, la protagonista nunca deja de comportarse como lo haría cualquier mortal en su situación, lo que le da esa sensación real que me encanta.
Las ilustraciones son una bomba que te explota la cabeza, con ese toque bizarro y de horror cósmico que recuerda a Lovecraft.
Casi no leo en inglés, por lo que ver que algunos de los seres usan pronombres informales del inglés antiguo y conjugaciones especiales (early modern english) fue una novedad y algo que aprender. En definitiva leeré los demás en inglés para practicarlo.
Siento que la desepción será imposible con los demás libros. Kemoziaaaaaaan.
Una génesis del Todo extraordinaria, mitología inconmensurable y sumativa, innumerables y patibularios seres, culturas disociadas imposibles de asemejar con tamañas peculiaridades que tiene cada una . Aún siendo que tiene considerable cantidad de información para entender el universo, los diálogos son frescos y con varios tonos cómicos que le dan una ligereza muy disfrutable. A pensar de lo increíblemente fantástico que es, la protagonista nunca deja de comportarse como lo haría cualquier mortal en su situación, lo que le da esa sensación real que me encanta.
Las ilustraciones son una bomba que te explota la cabeza, con ese toque bizarro y de horror cósmico que recuerda a Lovecraft.
Casi no leo en inglés, por lo que ver que algunos de los seres usan pronombres informales del inglés antiguo y conjugaciones especiales (early modern english) fue una novedad y algo que aprender. En definitiva leeré los demás en inglés para practicarlo.
Siento que la desepción será imposible con los demás libros. Kemoziaaaaaaan.
August 14, 2021
This book is extremely heavy on the exposition, especially as it relates to its world building, which I do not like. World building is best when it gives your characters interesting things to talk about, and is worst communicated by telling the audience how cool your ideas are.
Ultimately, things do get interesting but not until it resolves itself to actually tell the story it establishes in the first 5 pages, which is then separated by a hundred pages of ultimately unnecessary world building and breakneck character introductions, and then finally gets back on track.
I wish it slowed down more, and focused more on our protagonists thoughts feeling and motivations. If we got to know Allison in her normal life before we got dropped in the Isekai. I'm still going to read the sequels, but I may drop this if it doesn't improve. I can't help that feel that pacing and editing are dying in an industry that needs them more than ever.
Ultimately, things do get interesting but not until it resolves itself to actually tell the story it establishes in the first 5 pages, which is then separated by a hundred pages of ultimately unnecessary world building and breakneck character introductions, and then finally gets back on track.
I wish it slowed down more, and focused more on our protagonists thoughts feeling and motivations. If we got to know Allison in her normal life before we got dropped in the Isekai. I'm still going to read the sequels, but I may drop this if it doesn't improve. I can't help that feel that pacing and editing are dying in an industry that needs them more than ever.
December 1, 2020
Forfærdentligt, kedelig, forvirrende til tider og rodet. Jeg brød mig ikke om tegnestilen og den blev flere gange så grov, og det blev teksten også. Det eneste positiv var bruge af mange klare farver og kreativitet af det tegnede. Historien gav ikke rigtig mening og jeg kedet mig, den følte så langtrukken. Meget information dump og mærkelige citater som adskiller de forskellige afsnit. Jeg brød mig ikke om karakteren og følte ingen connection til hende eller historien og den latterlige mission afsløring til sidst, forfærdentlig trope at benytte sig af. Den overordnet "big picture" historie kom næsten ikke i gang, så på trods af dens 104 sider følte jeg ikke rigtig vi kom nogen vegne eller havde en udvikling, vi fik bare fortalt en masse. Så en meget dårlig og mærkelig læseoplevelse, jeg læser ikke videre på tegneserien.
February 6, 2022
The story starts with Alison Ruth, a college student, who is trying and failing to lose her virginity with her boyfriend. Suddenly a horde of monsters appear out of nowhere. The one in the lead smashes something into Alison's head and is promptly decapitated by the others. Alison slowly teleports away but not before she sees her boyfriend whisked off by the horde.
Alison finds suddenly finds herself in a severely declined heaven. To be specific Alison finds herself in one of heaven's brothels, as it turns out later heaven is seemingly solely occupied by brothels. And this is when the endless exposition dump starts. This dump doesn't end till the comic does. Of course, our hero is dragged around to a few other brothels so we can get a change of scenery as we are taught heaven's entire history including its decline.
It's waaaay too much world-building and nothing else. It makes for a story that is incredibly complicated and is very boring at the same time.
Alison finds suddenly finds herself in a severely declined heaven. To be specific Alison finds herself in one of heaven's brothels, as it turns out later heaven is seemingly solely occupied by brothels. And this is when the endless exposition dump starts. This dump doesn't end till the comic does. Of course, our hero is dragged around to a few other brothels so we can get a change of scenery as we are taught heaven's entire history including its decline.
It's waaaay too much world-building and nothing else. It makes for a story that is incredibly complicated and is very boring at the same time.
April 17, 2022
4.5/5
Sometimes, once upon a blue moon, you'd encounter a work of fiction that you feel tailored just for you. This is one of those occasions.
Last week, there was a thread in r/fantasy titled: If you could manifest a fantasy subgenre that catered EXACTLY to your tastes... What would it look like?
And my response was:
This was basically it. A sprawling city-world full of New Weird creatures and hidden cosmic horrors, kung-fu angels who are manifested spirits inside magically forged ash armours, buildings made of dead gods, not to mention overly complicated history, culture, and lore.
What's not to love?
Sometimes, once upon a blue moon, you'd encounter a work of fiction that you feel tailored just for you. This is one of those occasions.
Last week, there was a thread in r/fantasy titled: If you could manifest a fantasy subgenre that catered EXACTLY to your tastes... What would it look like?
And my response was:
Secondary world urban fantasy wuxia with overly complicated anthropological worldbuilding and a dash of New Weird and cosmic horror.
This was basically it. A sprawling city-world full of New Weird creatures and hidden cosmic horrors, kung-fu angels who are manifested spirits inside magically forged ash armours, buildings made of dead gods, not to mention overly complicated history, culture, and lore.
What's not to love?
June 27, 2025
'Kill 6 Billion Demons' is fun, interesting and highly complex - Tom Parkinson-Morgan has weaved together action and mysticism, thereby creating an entirely new world. There are gods, demons, multiverses, and a plethora of different creatures. I can't begin to imagine what must have gone through the artist's mind to bring this to life, there is so much creativity here!
This first volume is definitely introductory, with each episode split by reference writings or stories from this world. A student's romantic evening with her boyfriend is disrupted when he suddenly disappears into thin air. She is committed to saving him, and gets transported herself into this grotesque realm.
The graphics express this as well with images of ruin, death or slavery. There are also several huge drawings that show the entire city, that invites you to look into the detail as to what happens at every level, in each room, to each character. Though it's not aesthetically my style, it's not one I would describe as beautiful, it is nonetheless impressive. It evokes so strongly a feeling of doom, of world's end, and everyone is constructed with so much detail. Their clothing, accessories, eye shape, particular features, there are many species that coexist here.
I'm excited to read more in this world, the truth is, I'm not even sure I understand everything yet...
This first volume is definitely introductory, with each episode split by reference writings or stories from this world. A student's romantic evening with her boyfriend is disrupted when he suddenly disappears into thin air. She is committed to saving him, and gets transported herself into this grotesque realm.
The graphics express this as well with images of ruin, death or slavery. There are also several huge drawings that show the entire city, that invites you to look into the detail as to what happens at every level, in each room, to each character. Though it's not aesthetically my style, it's not one I would describe as beautiful, it is nonetheless impressive. It evokes so strongly a feeling of doom, of world's end, and everyone is constructed with so much detail. Their clothing, accessories, eye shape, particular features, there are many species that coexist here.
I'm excited to read more in this world, the truth is, I'm not even sure I understand everything yet...
October 11, 2018
I’m torn between 2 stars and 3, but I’m feeling generous because of the sheer ambition and crazy over-the-topness of this story. I suspect I either need to take handfuls of psychedelics or be possessed by one of these insane demons to get this, but I heartily approve of aiming high.
It’s better as a webcomic because you can zoom in to see all the cool little details and read the dialogue which is often multicolored.
https://killsixbilliondemons.com/comi...
It’s better as a webcomic because you can zoom in to see all the cool little details and read the dialogue which is often multicolored.
https://killsixbilliondemons.com/comi...
January 26, 2023
“5. To train with the sword, first master sweeping. When you have mastered sweeping, you must master the way of drawing water. Once you have learned how to draw water, you must split wood. Once you have split wood, you must learn the arts of finding the fine herbs in the forest, the arts of writing, the arts of paper making, and poetry writing. You must become familiar with the awl and the pen in equal measure. When you have mastered all these things, you must master building a house. Once your house is built, you have no further need for a sword, since it is an ugly piece of metal and its adherents idiots.” (Meti’s Sword Manual: Mastering the Sword)
April 21, 2017
Super dense, ultra rich powerful world-building. I know it will take me multiple readings to fully understand what's going on - and maybe not even until the whole story is out. I liked it and will probably continue.
August 30, 2024
Read this for bookclub. We were supposed to read the first two books but in 7 weeks I barely made it through this one. Nothing about this interested me and multiple times I read a few pages then put it down for days at a time. Definitely not for me.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 274 reviews