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Kill or be Killed
Kill or be Killed, Vol. 3
Brubaker and Phillips best-selling series ratchets up the tension and violence as Dylan escalates his assault on the Russian Mafia, putting his secret and the lives of his friends at risk. Both a thriller and a deconstruction of vigilantism, KILL OR BE KILLED is unlike anything this award-winning team has done before.
Collecting: Kill or Be Killed 11-14
Collecting: Kill or Be Killed 11-14
120 pages, Paperback
First published January 17, 2018
About the author
Ed Brubaker
1,815 books3,122 followersEd Brubaker (born November 17, 1966) is an Eisner Award-winning American cartoonist and writer. He was born at the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland.
Brubaker is best known for his work as a comic book writer on such titles as Batman, Daredevil, Captain America, Iron Fist, Catwoman, Gotham Central and Uncanny X-Men. In more recent years, he has focused solely on creator-owned titles for Image Comics, such as Fatale, Criminal, Velvet and Kill or Be Killed.
In 2016, Brubaker ventured into television, joining the writing staff of the HBO series Westworld.
Brubaker is best known for his work as a comic book writer on such titles as Batman, Daredevil, Captain America, Iron Fist, Catwoman, Gotham Central and Uncanny X-Men. In more recent years, he has focused solely on creator-owned titles for Image Comics, such as Fatale, Criminal, Velvet and Kill or Be Killed.
In 2016, Brubaker ventured into television, joining the writing staff of the HBO series Westworld.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 252 reviews
March 8, 2023
What in the hell is going to happen here?!
Is Dylan a complete nutjob and this demon is a product of his broken psyche?
Is there an actual curse on his family in the form of a whispery demon that commands them to kill?
OR.
Is Dylan just doing the world a favor by taking out some unsavory people who are preying on the weak among us?
This is a really good story and I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of crazypants ending Brubaker & Philips have in store for me.
Recommended.
Is Dylan a complete nutjob and this demon is a product of his broken psyche?
Is there an actual curse on his family in the form of a whispery demon that commands them to kill?
OR.
Is Dylan just doing the world a favor by taking out some unsavory people who are preying on the weak among us?
This is a really good story and I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of crazypants ending Brubaker & Philips have in store for me.
Recommended.
January 16, 2018
He may be trying to leave his murderous past as a masked vigilante behind him but the god-dang Russian Mob won’t stop hunting Dylan. To protect his loved ones, Dylan must… Kill or Be Killed!
Kill or Be Killed, Volume 3 is a thoroughly entertaining closer to the first act of this increasingly compelling series. Ed Brubaker finally delivers on the explosive opening scene from way back in the first issue of this series - where Dylan is stalking through a building with a shotgun shooting everyone left and right - explaining the context and meaning behind it. It’s definitely worth it - Dylan vs the Russian Mob is the fixture I’ve been waiting to see and it’s the highlight of this title so far!
Though readers following along at this point know whether the Demon Dylan keeps seeing, who’s making him kill (or be killed), is real or not, Brubaker throws another curveball in the form of a revelation from Dylan’s dear old ma, to add a new dimension to that aspect of the story. It’s a bit soap-opera-y in its suddenness though Dylan’s reaction hints that there’s more behind it - tantalising stuff!
I liked Dylan’s continued character development too, particularly the scene where he stands up to his roommate Mason. And I really enjoyed his clever and twisty three-point plan for taking down the Mob, which reminded me of Frank Miller’s excellent A Dame To Kill For in both style and execution.
Yeah, you can roll your eyes at the believability of a relatively combat-inexperienced milquetoast grad student single-handedly causing so much trouble for the Russian Mob - who is this guy, Frank Castle?! - but, hey, it’s more fun this way, y’know? I only really disliked a couple parts of the book. I’m not crazy about the romance subplot between Dylan and Kira, though I understand why it’s included (cliched motivation - le sigh), and Dylan can be a birruva annoying narrator with his rambling style.
Sean Phillips’ artwork is stunning as always, complemented beautifully by Elizabeth Breitweiser’s astoundingly on-point and eye-catching colouring. I especially enjoyed Dylan’s dead father’s pulpy painted art (and not just for the racy content!) and the Demon design remains impressively unnerving - watch out for that last page!
Brubaker and Phillips bring the first arc of Kill or Be Killed to a thrilling and satisfying end with this exciting third volume, the best book in the series yet - fans will definitely be pleased with this one. Bring on Act Two!
Kill or Be Killed, Volume 3 is a thoroughly entertaining closer to the first act of this increasingly compelling series. Ed Brubaker finally delivers on the explosive opening scene from way back in the first issue of this series - where Dylan is stalking through a building with a shotgun shooting everyone left and right - explaining the context and meaning behind it. It’s definitely worth it - Dylan vs the Russian Mob is the fixture I’ve been waiting to see and it’s the highlight of this title so far!
Though readers following along at this point know whether the Demon Dylan keeps seeing, who’s making him kill (or be killed), is real or not, Brubaker throws another curveball in the form of a revelation from Dylan’s dear old ma, to add a new dimension to that aspect of the story. It’s a bit soap-opera-y in its suddenness though Dylan’s reaction hints that there’s more behind it - tantalising stuff!
I liked Dylan’s continued character development too, particularly the scene where he stands up to his roommate Mason. And I really enjoyed his clever and twisty three-point plan for taking down the Mob, which reminded me of Frank Miller’s excellent A Dame To Kill For in both style and execution.
Yeah, you can roll your eyes at the believability of a relatively combat-inexperienced milquetoast grad student single-handedly causing so much trouble for the Russian Mob - who is this guy, Frank Castle?! - but, hey, it’s more fun this way, y’know? I only really disliked a couple parts of the book. I’m not crazy about the romance subplot between Dylan and Kira, though I understand why it’s included (cliched motivation - le sigh), and Dylan can be a birruva annoying narrator with his rambling style.
Sean Phillips’ artwork is stunning as always, complemented beautifully by Elizabeth Breitweiser’s astoundingly on-point and eye-catching colouring. I especially enjoyed Dylan’s dead father’s pulpy painted art (and not just for the racy content!) and the Demon design remains impressively unnerving - watch out for that last page!
Brubaker and Phillips bring the first arc of Kill or Be Killed to a thrilling and satisfying end with this exciting third volume, the best book in the series yet - fans will definitely be pleased with this one. Bring on Act Two!
February 21, 2018
Wow wow wow! This series just keeps getting better! One of my very favorite comics series of the year, as it was last year, now volume three! I got this and sat down and read it in one sitting, without getting up once! I hardly breathed, it was so good. And that includes my rereading some of it just to see the careful plotting, all the interconnections, as one expects from the best of noir crime comics.
As you may know or want to know, Dylan, a kind of loser-ish guy, who fell in love with his best friend, Kira, who was seeing his roommate, throws himself out of his window and falls on a car. Whereupon he turns to see a demon who makes him a deal: You don’t really want to die, so I’ll make sure you are alive month-by-month if you kill someone in each of those months. He’s a schlep, not handy with anything much less a gun, but he makes the deal, choosing child molesters and other people no one on the planet would regret losing. Which implicates us, as we—non-killers (speaking for myself, anyway)—agree it is “okay” on some level that he wastes a monster-a-month. So it’s life on the installment plan, per the demon.
As things proceed, we see Dylan has been off his meds (mental illness kills people, guns don’t??!); wait, is this psycho-vigilantism or demonism?! And back to the ranch, what about Kira? He seems out of control, she sees he is off his meds, she breaks with him. She doesn’t know anything about the killing, so we as readers say good decision, Kira!
But as this volume opens, she misses him, aw, she feels badly she dumped him, and wants to slowly get back together again. Dylan is taking his meds, he is seeing his psychiatrist, he is getting some of his school work done for his English major (at one point Dylan apologizes for his first person storytelling, says it is as bad as Tristram Shandy, which only an English major would know, sweet), all good. . . except he thinks about this demon “hallucination” (is it??!!) again. He knows his father (who committed suicide) did paintings of the demon, and then he finds his long-lost brother (who also committed suicide—wait, I see a pattern forming. . . .) seems to have been obsessed about some demon before he offed himself.
“Oh, shit,” as Dylan himself says.
Will the cute couple Dylan and Kira be able to find eternal happiness while Dylan continues his secret life killing Russian mobsters (hey, they run a prostitution ring, the scum, they deserve to die, we—implicated as murderers with him, fellow nerds in crime—surely think. We are left with an ice-in-your-veins cliffhanger image that made me say “wow!!!” (yes, aloud). Get this comic series now, read it online. You won’t “like” Dylan, as he says, he’s a loser, but on the other hand, he has what we don’t have in this terrible political age, he has this sense of terrible control over his life (he is getting rid of all the bad things that confront him in one shot, what a fantasy!!) (oh, but then there’s the mob), he has sweet Kira (or does he, if she doesn’t know him for what he is?).
SO GOOD!!!!
As you may know or want to know, Dylan, a kind of loser-ish guy, who fell in love with his best friend, Kira, who was seeing his roommate, throws himself out of his window and falls on a car. Whereupon he turns to see a demon who makes him a deal: You don’t really want to die, so I’ll make sure you are alive month-by-month if you kill someone in each of those months. He’s a schlep, not handy with anything much less a gun, but he makes the deal, choosing child molesters and other people no one on the planet would regret losing. Which implicates us, as we—non-killers (speaking for myself, anyway)—agree it is “okay” on some level that he wastes a monster-a-month. So it’s life on the installment plan, per the demon.
As things proceed, we see Dylan has been off his meds (mental illness kills people, guns don’t??!); wait, is this psycho-vigilantism or demonism?! And back to the ranch, what about Kira? He seems out of control, she sees he is off his meds, she breaks with him. She doesn’t know anything about the killing, so we as readers say good decision, Kira!
But as this volume opens, she misses him, aw, she feels badly she dumped him, and wants to slowly get back together again. Dylan is taking his meds, he is seeing his psychiatrist, he is getting some of his school work done for his English major (at one point Dylan apologizes for his first person storytelling, says it is as bad as Tristram Shandy, which only an English major would know, sweet), all good. . . except he thinks about this demon “hallucination” (is it??!!) again. He knows his father (who committed suicide) did paintings of the demon, and then he finds his long-lost brother (who also committed suicide—wait, I see a pattern forming. . . .) seems to have been obsessed about some demon before he offed himself.
“Oh, shit,” as Dylan himself says.
Will the cute couple Dylan and Kira be able to find eternal happiness while Dylan continues his secret life killing Russian mobsters (hey, they run a prostitution ring, the scum, they deserve to die, we—implicated as murderers with him, fellow nerds in crime—surely think. We are left with an ice-in-your-veins cliffhanger image that made me say “wow!!!” (yes, aloud). Get this comic series now, read it online. You won’t “like” Dylan, as he says, he’s a loser, but on the other hand, he has what we don’t have in this terrible political age, he has this sense of terrible control over his life (he is getting rid of all the bad things that confront him in one shot, what a fantasy!!) (oh, but then there’s the mob), he has sweet Kira (or does he, if she doesn’t know him for what he is?).
SO GOOD!!!!
October 17, 2018
Has a college student become a masked vigilante killer because he’s been cursed by a demon or because he’s mentally ill? Maybe a little Column A and a little Column B?
The third volume finds Dylan coping with revelations indicating that the whole demon thing might be all in his head which leads to him trying to put down the shotgun and try to get back to some kind of normal life. Which actually kinda works for a while, but it’s hard to just quit being a vigilante when you’ve got the Russian mob looking for you.
The team of Brubaker and Phillips is probably the best working in comics right now, and as always the writing and art combine to create a great story. I continue to admire how this takes the air out of the fantasy of a good-guy-with-a-gun cleaning up the streets. It’s all brutal and messy and ugly, and they manage to make Dylan sympathetic while still also seeming like a danger to himself and everyone around him. There’s a gritty realism to the way that it’s all handled that is very different then what you usually get in a story of this type.
I absolutely loved this, and I’m extremely glad I’ve got Vol. 4 on deck right now to keep reading.
The third volume finds Dylan coping with revelations indicating that the whole demon thing might be all in his head which leads to him trying to put down the shotgun and try to get back to some kind of normal life. Which actually kinda works for a while, but it’s hard to just quit being a vigilante when you’ve got the Russian mob looking for you.
The team of Brubaker and Phillips is probably the best working in comics right now, and as always the writing and art combine to create a great story. I continue to admire how this takes the air out of the fantasy of a good-guy-with-a-gun cleaning up the streets. It’s all brutal and messy and ugly, and they manage to make Dylan sympathetic while still also seeming like a danger to himself and everyone around him. There’s a gritty realism to the way that it’s all handled that is very different then what you usually get in a story of this type.
I absolutely loved this, and I’m extremely glad I’ve got Vol. 4 on deck right now to keep reading.
February 18, 2018
For the past two volumes, we've understood that Dylan's vigilantism is a result of his manipulation by an apparent demon looking for him to do it's bidding. But here, the idea starts to firm up that there might be more to it than that. As Dylan begins killing not because of fear of the demon but in an effort to escape the Russian mob, and getting very good at it, we get the sense that it might not be the work of the supernatural at all, but that it might just be a something that's been dormant in him forever. He might just be born to do this. As usual, Brubaker and Phillips rock on with this story, a perfect series for people looking for a book that takes the usual vigilante trope and flips it sideways.
February 22, 2018
2026 - This is truly one of my favorite crime stories of all time. Brutal, nasty, angry. Everything I love.
2018 Review - Brubaker, please keep making these as fast as possible, and Sean, please keep drawing them at the same speed, because this series is the one comic I'm always looking forward to when I see a release date.
So Dylan decides it's time to drop the killing. He's ready to be happy, live his life with his new girlfriend, and try to leave it all behind. What happens when a Russian Mafia member begins sniffing around and nearly finds Dylan and so he must kill again. This time though he decides no more wasting time. He's going right to the Mafia themselves, the boss, and it's his turn to take the war to them!
Good: The visuals are once again second to none. It's gritty, dark, and well drawn. Dylan remains one of the most entertaining main characters I've ever read. The fight between the mafia and Dylan is insane and off the charts action packed. The ending leaves you going "Oh fucking shit" and just like volume 1 and 2 I want more.
Bad: It ends...
Overall Kill or Be Killed Volume 3 is top notch just like volume 1 and 2. Will this series ever fail? Probably not. That's good news for all us readers. A 5 out of 5.
2018 Review - Brubaker, please keep making these as fast as possible, and Sean, please keep drawing them at the same speed, because this series is the one comic I'm always looking forward to when I see a release date.
So Dylan decides it's time to drop the killing. He's ready to be happy, live his life with his new girlfriend, and try to leave it all behind. What happens when a Russian Mafia member begins sniffing around and nearly finds Dylan and so he must kill again. This time though he decides no more wasting time. He's going right to the Mafia themselves, the boss, and it's his turn to take the war to them!
Good: The visuals are once again second to none. It's gritty, dark, and well drawn. Dylan remains one of the most entertaining main characters I've ever read. The fight between the mafia and Dylan is insane and off the charts action packed. The ending leaves you going "Oh fucking shit" and just like volume 1 and 2 I want more.
Bad: It ends...
Overall Kill or Be Killed Volume 3 is top notch just like volume 1 and 2. Will this series ever fail? Probably not. That's good news for all us readers. A 5 out of 5.
August 7, 2018
Brubaker and Phillips continue their merciless in-depth examination of the good ol' vigilante concept, and the result is an increasingly twisted little page-turner of a comic book that walks the line between idealism and madness to more and more absorbing effect. Can't wait until my library gets the next volume!
January 17, 2018
Kill or Be Killed keeps being a perfectly written action-thriller. The story moves at a breakneck pace, and Brubaker finally fulfils the promise he made in issue #1 of the series, where we saw Dylan, the main character of the book, shoot up a brothel full of russian mobsters in a brilliant flash-forward scene. Now we know why he did it, and I really liked all the details that led up to this point in the story. To be honest though, I am getting a bit too disturbed by Dylan and his moral choices. That's just me and my state of mind in the past couple of months. It's not a jab at Ed Brubaker for the way he's writing the book, but that little thing didn't let me fully enjoy this volume and give it the five stars it objectively deserves. Otherwise, the comic is flawless as usual — Brubaker writes a real page-turner of a story, and Sean Phillips with Elizabeth Breitweiser once again do their magic to make it look absolutely gorgeous. I'm looking forward to the next volume, where we supposedly will delve deeper into the crazy/supernatural part of the story to find out if the demon Dylan was seeing was actually real. To those who haven't yet checked out Kill or Be Killed, do yourself a favour!
February 3, 2018
Three volumes in, Dylan is now stuck in a perpetuating loop of recovery and delusion, between normality and murder, making for a misstep in character development. The story knowingly repeats itself, and can’t decide whether it’s a supernatural or psychological thriller, keeping the reader in an imagined and somehow faltered suspense. More disappointing is the futility of Dylan’s new mission, once killing villains to please a demon, now hilariously taking down a crime organization just because he’s crazy enough to. And this ends with a “gotcha” for an attempted recovery. I don’t think it worked.
September 24, 2017
Every chapter just blows my mind and leaves me wondering what would come next.
No doubt it's the best graphic novel that I have read this year. I'm so happy that I discovered this masterpiece and his author Ed Brubaker.
I don't wanna give you too much story and content of it, so just go and read it. ENJOY!!!
No doubt it's the best graphic novel that I have read this year. I'm so happy that I discovered this masterpiece and his author Ed Brubaker.
I don't wanna give you too much story and content of it, so just go and read it. ENJOY!!!
November 10, 2018
Dylan starts to take on Punisher-like efficiency in his vigilante murder spree. Brubaker meanwhile maintains a fascinating balance between mental illness and the supernatural while really nailing an engaging narrative voice for our troubled protagonist.
February 17, 2019
Ο Brubaker γράφει κόμικς που είναι εκρηκτικά απολαυστικά: συνδυάζουν τις αρετές της μυθοπλασίας/πεζογραφίας με την δύναμη της εικόνας των κόμικς. Και σε τούτον εδώ τον τόμο, απογειώνει αυτό τον σπάνιο συγκερασμό τηλεοπτικής αφήγησης και hardboiled/pulp fiction μυθιστορήματος.
Τα πολλά λόγια είναι φτώχια, καθώς ό,τι είπα για τους προηγούμενους τόμους ισχύει και σ' αυτόν. Είναι ένα εξαιρετικό κόμικς!
Τα πολλά λόγια είναι φτώχια, καθώς ό,τι είπα για τους προηγούμενους τόμους ισχύει και σ' αυτόν. Είναι ένα εξαιρετικό κόμικς!
September 15, 2026
Read September 15, 2026.
This is top tier stuff and I am loving every second of it.
The artwork is just, muah 🤌🏼💋 chef’s kiss! Like this artwork is why that expression exists. Like it just hits the sweet spot. Some of these panels make me downright giddy.
There’s one in particular that I feel encompasses everything that makes the comic medium special. Bc for so many people they’d prefer a normal book, or a movie, and they feel like there’s nothing a comic medium can do that isn’t done better in either a novel or a film, or an animated film. Bc you get one image to depict one moment and a very limited amount of dialogue. One might think that limits a creator. But then you get a panel so absolutely perfect that blasts that understanding right into your bones. And you’re like oh. oh.
Don’t ask me why I slept on Ed Bru for so long but your girl is wide awake now!
This is top tier stuff and I am loving every second of it.
The artwork is just, muah 🤌🏼💋 chef’s kiss! Like this artwork is why that expression exists. Like it just hits the sweet spot. Some of these panels make me downright giddy.
There’s one in particular that I feel encompasses everything that makes the comic medium special. Bc for so many people they’d prefer a normal book, or a movie, and they feel like there’s nothing a comic medium can do that isn’t done better in either a novel or a film, or an animated film. Bc you get one image to depict one moment and a very limited amount of dialogue. One might think that limits a creator. But then you get a panel so absolutely perfect that blasts that understanding right into your bones. And you’re like oh. oh.
Don’t ask me why I slept on Ed Bru for so long but your girl is wide awake now!
December 27, 2018
Drama + Action + Mystery = Amazing comic with a hell of a story xD
Dylan continues his war against mobs and bad people with many mystery shown from his past .
Dylan keeps his way with kill first and talk later , this is a good point coz i hate ppl who talk before they kill until something happened and we act shocked , so hail for Dylan for get the job done :).
I am hooked to this series now and reading Vol 4 already .
Dylan continues his war against mobs and bad people with many mystery shown from his past .
Dylan keeps his way with kill first and talk later , this is a good point coz i hate ppl who talk before they kill until something happened and we act shocked , so hail for Dylan for get the job done :).
I am hooked to this series now and reading Vol 4 already .
October 28, 2018
...Holy fuck...
What’s it about?
Umm... a bunch of things that readers of the first 2 volumes already know about that I couldn’t describe without making those who haven’t read the first 2 volumes confused and/or spoiling things so yeah, I’ll skip that.
Why it gets 5 stars:
The story continues to be a fantastic mix of crime drama and horror, I love it.
The artwork is fantastic. I gotta applaud the amount of detail in this comic’s art!
Now I’m a bit more interested in the characters. Yes, the main character is an asshole but in this volume I couldn’t help but sorta root for him, trying to potentially save the people he cares about.
The action scenes are frequent, gritty and bad-ass! The art really makes it some of the greatest gritty action in comics!
This series is suspenseful!
This volume includes some good comic relief. For the most part it’s very serious but there were a few chuckle worthy moments.
This volume’s horror element- wonderful. It is actually kind of creepy and spooky!
The ending... holy fuck, that ending is great!
Overall:
A fantastic volume of a series that I definitely recommend to fans of crime drama, action and horror. If you are a fan of those things you should check this out. If you’re not a fan of those things... uhh... how?
If I did have any problems with this volume it would be the frequent and graphic sexual content so if you have a problem with that you should avoid this comic but the parts that include it do progress the story so I personally didn’t mind.
It’s a great story with suspense, horror and action.
5/5
What’s it about?
Umm... a bunch of things that readers of the first 2 volumes already know about that I couldn’t describe without making those who haven’t read the first 2 volumes confused and/or spoiling things so yeah, I’ll skip that.
Why it gets 5 stars:
The story continues to be a fantastic mix of crime drama and horror, I love it.
The artwork is fantastic. I gotta applaud the amount of detail in this comic’s art!
Now I’m a bit more interested in the characters. Yes, the main character is an asshole but in this volume I couldn’t help but sorta root for him, trying to potentially save the people he cares about.
The action scenes are frequent, gritty and bad-ass! The art really makes it some of the greatest gritty action in comics!
This series is suspenseful!
This volume includes some good comic relief. For the most part it’s very serious but there were a few chuckle worthy moments.
This volume’s horror element- wonderful. It is actually kind of creepy and spooky!
The ending... holy fuck, that ending is great!
Overall:
A fantastic volume of a series that I definitely recommend to fans of crime drama, action and horror. If you are a fan of those things you should check this out. If you’re not a fan of those things... uhh... how?
If I did have any problems with this volume it would be the frequent and graphic sexual content so if you have a problem with that you should avoid this comic but the parts that include it do progress the story so I personally didn’t mind.
It’s a great story with suspense, horror and action.
5/5
November 29, 2018
And we get more escalation.
World: The art is fantastic and I can't say anymore about it. It's one of the reasons I read this book, the noir just seeps out of the book. The world building is also really solid and continues to build upon itself. I like how once again this world and the perspective we see is from Dylan making the world his and his alone.
Story: The story moves along at a quick pace the story moves well. The continuation of the story is well done and I can't really say anything else but if you've reached book three you know what you're in for. The end is absolutely fantastic.
Characters: We've been circling around the idea of Dylan and what he sees for a while and this one felt like it was not only an escalating but also a deflation and it was well done. Kira was also well done and I am loving the dynamic.
I don't want to get into details. Just read this as this is getting towards the end and it will be a good end.
Onward to the next book!
World: The art is fantastic and I can't say anymore about it. It's one of the reasons I read this book, the noir just seeps out of the book. The world building is also really solid and continues to build upon itself. I like how once again this world and the perspective we see is from Dylan making the world his and his alone.
Story: The story moves along at a quick pace the story moves well. The continuation of the story is well done and I can't really say anything else but if you've reached book three you know what you're in for. The end is absolutely fantastic.
Characters: We've been circling around the idea of Dylan and what he sees for a while and this one felt like it was not only an escalating but also a deflation and it was well done. Kira was also well done and I am loving the dynamic.
I don't want to get into details. Just read this as this is getting towards the end and it will be a good end.
Onward to the next book!
May 13, 2021
Ritorna Dylan, protagonista del fumetto Kill or Be Killed.
In questo terzo volume le cose per lui sembrano andare bene. Il demone non lo perseguita, la sua vita è tornata quasi normale... se non fosse per la mafia russa sulle sue tracce.
Piccolo excursus sul tipo di fumetto: è una storia che mescola splatter, paranormal, thriller e noir e i primi due volumi mi erano piaciuti molto.
Anche questo terzo, uscito a distanza di anni rispetto ai primi due, mi ha conquistata.
La storia di Dylan sta cominciando a farsi più complessa ed intrecciata, emergono nuovi segreti dal suo passato e il suo presente sta evolvendosi in fretta.
Questo volume è dedicato ai plot twist e alla suspance: Dylan - e il lettore con lui - scopre cose nuove ma soprattutto si dedica all'azione. Azione come sempre ben ponderata ma con un pizzico di follia, prevalentemente assurda ma che funziona bene.
Ho adorato le parti in cui Dylan si trasforma in una sorta di giustiziere della notte, in cui calcola le sue probabilità, conseguenze e futuro e poi, comunque, non rinuncia a spargere un bel po' di sangue.
è un personaggio diverso rispetto al primo volume, è più schietto e attento e non ha paura di dire la sua, a costo di creare un conflitto. è intelligente e la sua arguzia regge le scene ad alta tensione. Infine è anche sarcastico in modo pungente e per questo il suo rompere la quarta parete risulta molto più naturale.
Poi lo sapete, amo lo splatter quindi era inevitabile che questo volume mi sarebbe piaciuto.
Aspetto con ansia il quarto, nella speranza ci verrà svelato qualcosa in più di ciò che abbiamo appreso fino ad ora!
In questo terzo volume le cose per lui sembrano andare bene. Il demone non lo perseguita, la sua vita è tornata quasi normale... se non fosse per la mafia russa sulle sue tracce.
Piccolo excursus sul tipo di fumetto: è una storia che mescola splatter, paranormal, thriller e noir e i primi due volumi mi erano piaciuti molto.
Anche questo terzo, uscito a distanza di anni rispetto ai primi due, mi ha conquistata.
La storia di Dylan sta cominciando a farsi più complessa ed intrecciata, emergono nuovi segreti dal suo passato e il suo presente sta evolvendosi in fretta.
Questo volume è dedicato ai plot twist e alla suspance: Dylan - e il lettore con lui - scopre cose nuove ma soprattutto si dedica all'azione. Azione come sempre ben ponderata ma con un pizzico di follia, prevalentemente assurda ma che funziona bene.
Ho adorato le parti in cui Dylan si trasforma in una sorta di giustiziere della notte, in cui calcola le sue probabilità, conseguenze e futuro e poi, comunque, non rinuncia a spargere un bel po' di sangue.
è un personaggio diverso rispetto al primo volume, è più schietto e attento e non ha paura di dire la sua, a costo di creare un conflitto. è intelligente e la sua arguzia regge le scene ad alta tensione. Infine è anche sarcastico in modo pungente e per questo il suo rompere la quarta parete risulta molto più naturale.
Poi lo sapete, amo lo splatter quindi era inevitabile che questo volume mi sarebbe piaciuto.
Aspetto con ansia il quarto, nella speranza ci verrà svelato qualcosa in più di ciò che abbiamo appreso fino ad ora!
January 17, 2018
At the start of this volume, we see our vigilante hero Dylan once again donning the red mask, shooting baddies in a decrepit apartment building, so not much has changed. Although Kill or be Killed has never broken any new ground from the very beginning in terms of being a gritty crime noir, of which Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips have tackled before on numerous titles, it does seem like the duo is trying to change things up at this point. As we know Dylan will return to his gun-toting persona, it’s the times when he’s not in the mask where things perk up.
Please click here for my full review.
Please click here for my full review.
March 7, 2023
Dylan discovers that the Russians are zeroing in on his identity and takes actions to counter them. Also, more information about his family. He might not be the first person to deal with the demon who is leading him into violence.
February 23, 2018
I just can't praise this series enough!
This third volume goes full circle with the introductory scene of issue #1 and explains it all. How Dylan went against the Russian mob all by himself.
Even then Brubaker cleverly manages tension with flashbacks and meta comments. I just couldn't put the book down because I needed to know what happened next and I needed to know it now! There are not that many books out there that can hook me up this way.
The final page was great. It could end the series perfectly. I know it doesn't but still. High stakes for the second arc to stand up to this one.
Some unsettling bits here (the half-brother??) and there (has Kira another justification than being the Russian Mob massacre excuse?) but the whole job is so good that I honestly don't care.
Do I need to say again that Phillips and Breitweiser deliver and then some at the drawing board? I thought I'd told you that in my two previous reviews already!
PS: the covers of the 4 issues put together are fuckin' amazing!!
This third volume goes full circle with the introductory scene of issue #1 and explains it all. How Dylan went against the Russian mob all by himself.
Even then Brubaker cleverly manages tension with flashbacks and meta comments. I just couldn't put the book down because I needed to know what happened next and I needed to know it now! There are not that many books out there that can hook me up this way.
The final page was great. It could end the series perfectly. I know it doesn't but still. High stakes for the second arc to stand up to this one.
Some unsettling bits here (the half-brother??) and there (has Kira another justification than being the Russian Mob massacre excuse?) but the whole job is so good that I honestly don't care.
Do I need to say again that Phillips and Breitweiser deliver and then some at the drawing board? I thought I'd told you that in my two previous reviews already!
PS: the covers of the 4 issues put together are fuckin' amazing!!
October 31, 2021
This was actually pretty good!
Here we just have the pure action as we first see Dylan and Kira get together and when the russians target his GF he starts taking them down and the way it happens like him finding their homes and all that is cool and the story with his father was heartbreaking but he gets the revenge on people who f...ed his father's career and that was something and finally the big revelation with the demon was great twist! This was a good volume and yeah it had lots of dialogue as well but I like that it also balanced the action well and gave us something thrilling and the whole thing maybe a dream or maybe? A better volume in this series for sure.
Here we just have the pure action as we first see Dylan and Kira get together and when the russians target his GF he starts taking them down and the way it happens like him finding their homes and all that is cool and the story with his father was heartbreaking but he gets the revenge on people who f...ed his father's career and that was something and finally the big revelation with the demon was great twist! This was a good volume and yeah it had lots of dialogue as well but I like that it also balanced the action well and gave us something thrilling and the whole thing maybe a dream or maybe? A better volume in this series for sure.
March 3, 2018
I just found the story unbelievable. I wont give any spoilers but Dylan is just an average college student but he seems to complete every task with ease no matter the consequences or difficulty. The psychological issues were less of a plot device until a certain point. Random plot twist with Dylans family as well which didnt seem planned. I feel like this story is being made up as it goes without an end point planned at all. Will wait for Vol 4 but in no rush.
November 2, 2019
In the third volume of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ series Kill or Be Killed, we pick up with Dylan as he tries to sort through the origin of the demon forcing him to kill. Having discovered images of the demon inside of his father’s artwork, he begins to struggle with whether or not this is all a figment of his imagination. But, is it too late to stop the dominos from falling?
As I’ve mentioned over and over again in the past, I don’t believe there to be a better duo working in comics today than Brubaker and Phillips and the third volume of Kill or Be Killed does nothing to change my opinion. Dylan isn’t this infallible, non-stop killing machine ala John Wick; he’s clumsy, inexperienced and dangerous. The fact that anything seems to go right has more to do with dumb luck than his ability to execute plans successfully.
The tension is so tight in these books that it’s nearly impossible to put them down once things get moving. I can’t imagine reading these month-to-month – they’re the comic book equivalent of bingeing full seasons on Netflix. Where things end at the conclusion of this volume set things up for a hell of a finale in the fourth and final volume.
As I’ve mentioned over and over again in the past, I don’t believe there to be a better duo working in comics today than Brubaker and Phillips and the third volume of Kill or Be Killed does nothing to change my opinion. Dylan isn’t this infallible, non-stop killing machine ala John Wick; he’s clumsy, inexperienced and dangerous. The fact that anything seems to go right has more to do with dumb luck than his ability to execute plans successfully.
The tension is so tight in these books that it’s nearly impossible to put them down once things get moving. I can’t imagine reading these month-to-month – they’re the comic book equivalent of bingeing full seasons on Netflix. Where things end at the conclusion of this volume set things up for a hell of a finale in the fourth and final volume.
March 30, 2021
Brubaker sabe darle al tebeo un punto diferente al resto de sus historias, especialmente con ese narrador que está interpelando continuamente al lector y con el que se nota que está disfrutando. Aunque después elige contar este miniarco dentro de la historia general como si fuera un flashback, de manera un tanto gratuita. Recupera interés respecto a la anodina trama criminal con la profundización del drama familiar y el origen del mal del protagonista, que lo deja todo listo para el siguiente tomo, la conclusión.
July 18, 2026
Gostei bastante deste volume. Aqui, começamos a perceber mais claramente a frieza e a coragem de Dylan, ao mesmo tempo em que acompanhamos suas descobertas sobre o passado!
Ansiosa para o próximo!
Ansiosa para o próximo!
January 18, 2018
Dylan takes the Russian mob head on in this volume and he also learns more disturbing things about his past and the demon. Great art as usual from the Phillips and Breitweiser team. Overall I like the story. In this volume, though, Brubaker goes further afield with the meta-fictional aspects. At one point Dylan says I know I'm the worst narrator ever. And then he says, it can't all be action, can it? I suppose this is Brubaker's attempt to make all the meanderings and backstory investigations feel more directly part of the story because Dylan is acknowledging that he is telling a story and jumping around quite a bit. I'm not sold on this approach because Brubaker has accomplished similar meandering backstory jaunts so seamlessly in Criminal and Fade Out. Dylan's not exactly Tom Sawyer, although he does compare himself to Tristram Shandy.
June 22, 2018
Bullet Review:
I continue to enjoy the hell out of this series - so funny, because I remember vividly hating Dylan in volume 1 and thinking he was a loser. This volume answers some serious questions, poses others (but not in an annoying way), and loops back around to the series opener (which I had totally forgot!). That end panel is TOTALLY intriguing; I cannot wait to see where Brubaker and Philips take this series.
Other than perhaps Velvet, this is my favorite Brubaker/Philips collab.
I continue to enjoy the hell out of this series - so funny, because I remember vividly hating Dylan in volume 1 and thinking he was a loser. This volume answers some serious questions, poses others (but not in an annoying way), and loops back around to the series opener (which I had totally forgot!). That end panel is TOTALLY intriguing; I cannot wait to see where Brubaker and Philips take this series.
Other than perhaps Velvet, this is my favorite Brubaker/Philips collab.
July 4, 2018
The best ongoing comic series being written today that I know of. Brubaker is a veteran of the industry, and it’s easy to see why.
February 7, 2019
Dylan was diagnosed years earlier with a mental condition that can result in manic episodes. This explains the demon who stops making any other appearances after Dylan gets back on the proper medication. Dylan gives up the mask, returns to his college work and gets back together with Kira.
In the public eye the masked serial killer hype fades slowly, but surely. Only the Russians are looking for Dylan, so he decides to fight back via Tino, one of the mafia's collectors. He threatens Tino into giving up information about the security of the mafia boss.
In the public eye the masked serial killer hype fades slowly, but surely. Only the Russians are looking for Dylan, so he decides to fight back via Tino, one of the mafia's collectors. He threatens Tino into giving up information about the security of the mafia boss.
December 31, 2018
I still love the series even with all the fucking madness that has been happening in Dylan's life. I feel that his character is getting muddled up; more dark and twisted and a little less likable. I can tell that that narrative is on purpose tho; it kept me on my toes because I kept wondering what is this crazy gonna do next? I love that.
The artwork is on point as usual. I can officially say, I'm committed to the series and am queuing up Kill or be Killed 4 as I type this.
I keep wondering how they can drag this out further, not in a bad way but in a way that doesn't get stale. I'll keep reading to find out.
The artwork is on point as usual. I can officially say, I'm committed to the series and am queuing up Kill or be Killed 4 as I type this.
I keep wondering how they can drag this out further, not in a bad way but in a way that doesn't get stale. I'll keep reading to find out.
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