Der Killer – Gesamtausgabe III

The killer #6-8

by Matz, Luc Jacamon (Illustration)

Der Killer hat es zu Wohlstand gebracht, er könnte sich eigentlich zur Ruhe setzen. Aber einen Job wie seinen hängt man nicht einfach an den Nagel. Sein kolumbianischer Freund Mariano hat den erträumten Ministerposten erreicht und damit plötzlich ganz andere Sorgen... für die er einen richtig guten Killer braucht.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Crime, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Noir

176 pages, Hardcover

First published August 24, 2001

About the author

"Matz" is the pseudonym for French writer Alexis Nolent. He has written scripts for video games, a novel, and as Matz, a number of comics including Triggerman by Walter Hill. His graphic novel, Du plombe dan la tete a.k.a. Headshot, was adapted into the 2012 film, Bullet To The Head.


See http://www.dargaud.com/bd/Auteurs/Matz for a bio in French.

Reviews

[Dimitris Papastergiou · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well the artwork mainly saved it from being 2 stars to be honest.

Lots of papa don't preach moments. Lots of repetition on the Killer's thoughts since volume 1. If it makes me think that it resembles a lot the volume one then something's not right.

I liked the main plot. It was nice. It went a bit frustrating to read midway but ok, I guess Killer had to teach us once again about every single place he's in what's up with its history and gov. and dictatorship and whatnot. Oh well.

I guess this book's good. I liked it overall. At times, made me wish I was reading a Hitman comic book series with Agent 47 or something.

His inner thoughts on every single thing tend to get a bit tedious, especially after 3 volumes. It's a nice perk to have. And our character is smart and down to earth.. but as I said, kept getting too repetitive.

[StephenM]

Much more of a political polemic and much less interesting than the previous volumes. The Killer's narration has always been deeply cynical, relativistic, and self-justifying, but here it's put to use to convince the reader of anti-American and pro-Cuban/Chavez foreign policy. This just confuses matters. Are we supposed to agree with him now?

Edit: I have now seen the movie, and it's quite funny that David Fincher apparently read these comics and concluded the Killer is an idiot and all his self-justifications are all b.s.--which is apparently the opposite of what Matz thinks, if this volume is any guide. Matz gives him a happy ending where he gets everything he wants, while Fincher undermines his entire worldview and leaves him humiliated.

[Mohammed Abdikhader Firdhiye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deep, introspective character study of a lone assassin's path in life, Killer drills into the mind of a heartless bad guy in ways that most comic books don't have time for. A more realistic,mundane but exciting story about an assassin and his perspective on the world.

Luc Jacamon art is excellent,original.

[OmniBen · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Zero spoiler review) 2.5/5
Alright, this is where I bow out from this series. I've read enough of this mediocrity, I can't stands no more. The plot was already fairly inane and uninteresting, but it just got unnecessarily convoluted, and yet somehow, more boring at the same time. The pace has dropped from slow to pedestrian, without any meaningful character interaction or development to help to plug in the gaps between events. The main protagonist is still the same bland, cardboard cut-out he was from the first page. The tag along side character that has shadowed him for quite some time now is even more annoying and just as uninteresting. This is just a whole lot of not much, when it all shakes out. A bloated action/crime noir with decreasingly less crime and not a hell of a lot of action either. The art still remains a highlight, although the character models are still sub-par considering his abilities. I gave this over 300 pages, that's more than generous enough. Pass. 2.5/5


OmniBen.  

[Jake Kilroy · Rating 4 out of 5]

There hasn't exactly been a nihilism, nor a real care for the world, with our narrator thus far. He's an assassin, and his strength is that he's logical and calculated, which can imply a coldness, though he's appreciated the richness of life in measures or through various avenues of compartmentalization. Here, he begins to take on the inverse, taken over by the politics of the world. It's neither good nor bad. It simply is. It's just a character shift, really, or at least a shift in character focus. It just seemed a rather sudden development, or perhaps our character saw a wickedness in all things once he was personally wronged. He's still him at his core, but what he considers his operation has substantially expanded.

[টক দইয়ের চা · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was so excited to read the third volume of the series, but boy, was I disappointed. It felt like the author ran out of ideas and just threw in some random plot twists. It was not that good like the previous two volumes.

[Kern · Rating 3 out of 5]

Volume 3 doubles down on the political aspect of Volume 2, which is fine, except for when it breaks the momentum of the plot to monologue for pages about the fallacy of democracy, etc. That, plus the fact that this volume doesn't have a natural conclusion, makes it the weakest of the bunch so far.

[iamjacsmusings · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the first time, Matz's writing takes a little dip as it focuses more on geo-politics and less on internal philosophy.

Jacamon's art remains transcendent in its use of backdrop and colour, however.

Together they remain a Killer team and this Volume is another hit.

[DJ_Keyser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this entry even more than the first couple of volumes, following intently as the titular killer’s involvement in geopolitics challenges his self-serving moral code. Sadly only more part to go in the series, as I could easily eat up another 4 or 5 volumes of this.

[Wayne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Took eight years to read these books sitting in my nightstand drawer. Wasn't worth the wait. Vol. 1 of this series was best, with the follow-up volumes a bit tedious.

[Mario Medina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't read the hardcover edition, I read the kindle version. Quite good, but all the long inner monologues got me at the end.

[Illumi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read the book The Killer: Modus Vivendi which is the sequel of the popular and groundbreaking series The Killer.
Though I loved the first 2 volumes of Killer, the same cannot be said for this one. It is said that sometimes things are better when they are simpler. How true!

The Killer is back from his retirement but it does him no good. He's been unwittingly caught up between a war for oil and there is no rescue at sight.He has only one choice before him. To kill or be killed.

In this series,the killer does not even sound like the killer that I loved before.He seems to have lost his edge and the story seems to have lost its charm. Though good, nowhere near the previous volumes.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked it, but as others have noted, the politics get to be a bit much in this volume. Sure, we all know the US is the devil, but come on. Matz sounds like a peeved teenager with his rants in this one, plus the killer is supposed to be apart from such mundane concerns. Artwork is outstanding as usual.

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

The mysterious Killer comes back from his self-imposed exile for another job. Hired to remove first a banker, then an oil executive, the plot twists when his third target is revealed to be a revered nun. Honestly, this volume can can skipped; I wish our protagonist had actually stayed in retirement rather than get messed up in this convolution.

[Nick Kives · Rating 4 out of 5]

Volume 3 of this series is about the 3 times the amount of volume one. Part 1 and 2 of this are pretty good and adds more and more to the character, but part 3 has almost nothing going on, and is just more of a setup for volume 4. Still a good read if you liked 1 and 2 though.

[Sonic · Rating 4 out of 5]

More nihilistic and socialistic philosophizing from our favorite French sociopath assassin. Maybe not as exciting as the first two books, but this is the continuation of a good story.

[Adam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh. Was this series always like this? I remember liking it before, but the whole "the world is a shitty place" nihilistic thing really got on my nerves this time around.

[sara frances · Rating 3 out of 5]

the whole philosophizing bit is starting to resemble a dead horse for me, but i'm curious to see what happens next.

[Tyson Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not as good as volume 2 - gets a little didactic - but still a great read.

[Brendan · Rating 2 out of 5]

More of the same. This time it’s personal. I don’t think this comic is particularly great, but it’s competently done, so I keep reading it to see where it will go.

[Saif Bagmar · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good lesson for international relations

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not quite as gripping as the first but satisfyingly good.

[Mason]

Still solid-ish, but the quality is kind of dropping. Love the stuff with The Killer himself and his son. Anyways, going to read the rest!
finished april 9