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Kill Audio #1-6
Kill Audio
Rock N Roll will die! Kill Audio, on the other hand, can’t. He’s an immortal troll charged with rebalancing musical creativity in the world of Sight & Sound. But things are easier said than done in a place where nothing is what it seems, leaving Kill Audio to track down the musical “fathers” of every genre, while a dark conspiracy keeps them perpetually hidden. With the help of a talking pillow, a skeleton in a beaver suit, and a drug-addled chicken, Kill Audio is determined to set things right. But who defines what’s “right”? From the creator of the best-selling THE AMORY WARS!
208 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
19 people are currently reading
221 people want to read
About the author
Claudio Sánchez
126 books397 followersClaudio Paul Sanchez III (born March 12, 1978, in Suffern, New York, United States) is an American writer and musician of Puerto Rican and Italian descent best known for being the lead singer and guitarist for the alternative/progressive rock group Coheed and Cambria. He is the creator of the comic book series The Amory Wars, as well as Key of Z and Kill Audio, both co-written with wife Chondra Echert. Sanchez co-authored the novel Year of the Black Rainbow with Peter David.
From Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudio...
From Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudio...
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
February 13, 2016
This would do very, very well classified as bizarro fiction (if it weren't a graphic novel). It's weird as fuck and probably gory enough to gross some people out.
I won't do a synopsis because everyone's done it already and it's pretty straight forward--Kill Audio has to police the world of Sight & Sound to keep musical creativity under control. Bet you couldn't tell that by the name, huh!?
It's just all over the place in the best way. There's characters who really don't have any kind of use. Why is DJ a pillow? Why does the fixer have a hammer face, and who gave him the job of fixing? Is there a point to Chi-co? Why does Demise's hair move? Answer to all of the above: because why the hell not? I loved this attitude. It made for continuously random and interesting panels while the little troll Kill Audio was propelled forward through the weirdness of the world.
Plus, the core idea behind this graphic novel is fabulous. Art, music, theater, and the written word are all major creative aspects. There is one void to police each one; Kill Audio and his siblings spend their time hunting out those artists who take things a little too far and need shutting down. It's a hefty job for KA in particular, because music has drastically altered. Genre after genre after sub-genre after sub-genre. They're everywhere. So KA's attempt to corral them always seemed doomed at first.
But the fathers of music, those major guys that all the sub-genres were born from. Jazz. Country. Rock. Pop. THOSE guys were freaking awesome and I really wanted more of them. I'd say that's my only real complaint here: I want more of the fathers. They just looked SO COOL. Although I'm just now realizing KA kind of off got easy without having to find any other fathers besides one...
Anyway. Awesome, weirdly random characters with an original plot that keeps you entertained throughout. Totally worth looking at.
Disclaimer: I do love the band Coheed and Cambria (I'll see you guys in March!) but that did not influence my opinions of this either way.
I won't do a synopsis because everyone's done it already and it's pretty straight forward--Kill Audio has to police the world of Sight & Sound to keep musical creativity under control. Bet you couldn't tell that by the name, huh!?
It's just all over the place in the best way. There's characters who really don't have any kind of use. Why is DJ a pillow? Why does the fixer have a hammer face, and who gave him the job of fixing? Is there a point to Chi-co? Why does Demise's hair move? Answer to all of the above: because why the hell not? I loved this attitude. It made for continuously random and interesting panels while the little troll Kill Audio was propelled forward through the weirdness of the world.
Plus, the core idea behind this graphic novel is fabulous. Art, music, theater, and the written word are all major creative aspects. There is one void to police each one; Kill Audio and his siblings spend their time hunting out those artists who take things a little too far and need shutting down. It's a hefty job for KA in particular, because music has drastically altered. Genre after genre after sub-genre after sub-genre. They're everywhere. So KA's attempt to corral them always seemed doomed at first.
But the fathers of music, those major guys that all the sub-genres were born from. Jazz. Country. Rock. Pop. THOSE guys were freaking awesome and I really wanted more of them. I'd say that's my only real complaint here: I want more of the fathers. They just looked SO COOL. Although I'm just now realizing KA kind of off got easy without having to find any other fathers besides one...
Anyway. Awesome, weirdly random characters with an original plot that keeps you entertained throughout. Totally worth looking at.
Disclaimer: I do love the band Coheed and Cambria (I'll see you guys in March!) but that did not influence my opinions of this either way.
March 1, 2016
First, let me get a couple things out of the way.
1) I’ve been a huge Coheed and Cambria fan for a little while now, and that’s the only reason I even know this exists.
2) I haven’t actually read any of Claudio’s Amory Wars stuff yet, so this is, for whatever reason, the very first thing I chose to read by him.
So, knowing only that Claudio was good at making great music and as yet unproven to me as being good at anything else, I had very low expectations going in, perhaps raised somewhat by the high-concept pitch on the back that seemed right up my alley regardless of who was writing it.
Great pitch or not though, reading is my thing. I cut my teeth on Neil Gaiman’s Sandman. I have high expectations for storytelling, and I know what makes a good graphic novel. I had no intentions to ‘go easy’ on this because it was written by the lead singer of one of my favorite bands. In fact, I think in this case, me being a fan of Claudio as a musician made me more skeptical of his storytelling chops than if I hadn’t heard of him beforehand. You just don’t expect someone to be great at more than one thing, ya know?
Maybe the co-author, Claudio’s wife Chondra, had something to do with it, but I was more than pleasantly surprised with this story. In fact, I was blindsided by something surprisingly original and imaginative from a very unexpected place. I really hope the Amory Wars comics hold up to the quality of storytelling on display here.
But enough of all that. What the heck is this thing even about?
well, in simplest terms, Kill Audio is a high-concept story about creativity and art, focusing on music in particular since our protagonist, Kill Audio, is the void for music, sapping it from the world of Sight & Sound to keep the place bland, predictable, and under control. Creativity is a controlled substance, is how they put it. There are other voids, for other forms of art. They reminded me of The Endless in Sandman. Anytime something reminds me of Sandman it’s a good thing. I love anthropomorphic depictions of abstract concepts. It needs to happen more often.
The story starts with a short Wizard of Oz-esque mini-journey wherein KA realizes he doesn’t know what his purpose in life is or even where he came from or how he got where he is. To find answers he sets off to find “The Tower”, making friends along the way. His ultimate goal being to speak with “Clocwork”, the creator of Sight & Sound, the realm where the story takes place.
What follows is an interesting, metaphysical trip of a story in which Kill Audio slowly comes to learn some very interesting things about his brother and sister voids, goes on a quest to capture the fathers of every musical genre and, ultimately, winds up questioning his newfound purpose and creator.
It’s good stuff, trust me.
1) I’ve been a huge Coheed and Cambria fan for a little while now, and that’s the only reason I even know this exists.
2) I haven’t actually read any of Claudio’s Amory Wars stuff yet, so this is, for whatever reason, the very first thing I chose to read by him.
So, knowing only that Claudio was good at making great music and as yet unproven to me as being good at anything else, I had very low expectations going in, perhaps raised somewhat by the high-concept pitch on the back that seemed right up my alley regardless of who was writing it.
Great pitch or not though, reading is my thing. I cut my teeth on Neil Gaiman’s Sandman. I have high expectations for storytelling, and I know what makes a good graphic novel. I had no intentions to ‘go easy’ on this because it was written by the lead singer of one of my favorite bands. In fact, I think in this case, me being a fan of Claudio as a musician made me more skeptical of his storytelling chops than if I hadn’t heard of him beforehand. You just don’t expect someone to be great at more than one thing, ya know?
Maybe the co-author, Claudio’s wife Chondra, had something to do with it, but I was more than pleasantly surprised with this story. In fact, I was blindsided by something surprisingly original and imaginative from a very unexpected place. I really hope the Amory Wars comics hold up to the quality of storytelling on display here.
But enough of all that. What the heck is this thing even about?
well, in simplest terms, Kill Audio is a high-concept story about creativity and art, focusing on music in particular since our protagonist, Kill Audio, is the void for music, sapping it from the world of Sight & Sound to keep the place bland, predictable, and under control. Creativity is a controlled substance, is how they put it. There are other voids, for other forms of art. They reminded me of The Endless in Sandman. Anytime something reminds me of Sandman it’s a good thing. I love anthropomorphic depictions of abstract concepts. It needs to happen more often.
The story starts with a short Wizard of Oz-esque mini-journey wherein KA realizes he doesn’t know what his purpose in life is or even where he came from or how he got where he is. To find answers he sets off to find “The Tower”, making friends along the way. His ultimate goal being to speak with “Clocwork”, the creator of Sight & Sound, the realm where the story takes place.
What follows is an interesting, metaphysical trip of a story in which Kill Audio slowly comes to learn some very interesting things about his brother and sister voids, goes on a quest to capture the fathers of every musical genre and, ultimately, winds up questioning his newfound purpose and creator.
It’s good stuff, trust me.
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December 29, 2014I'm sorry, but I just need to say it... what the hell was Claudio thinking?
I am a huge fan of Coheed and Cambria, as well as the Amory Wars. But this book is absolutely terrible. The script is incoherent and doesn't seem to make any sense. I have tried on multiple occasions to just power through this and not think about it, but all the characters are the same, and all the emotions are just flat. There doesn't seem to be really any storyline... just random characters cursing and doing cocaine. The writing was thin, and the dialogue didn't sound real. Everything about this just felt forced.
I can't rate this book, as I have yet to finish it. It seems like this story, these characters, and this art, all had so much potential, but it all just fell flat because of a hacked-up script.
Claudio is an amazing storyteller and he has proven that many times. I just wish this graphic novel would have lived up to its expectations.
I am a huge fan of Coheed and Cambria, as well as the Amory Wars. But this book is absolutely terrible. The script is incoherent and doesn't seem to make any sense. I have tried on multiple occasions to just power through this and not think about it, but all the characters are the same, and all the emotions are just flat. There doesn't seem to be really any storyline... just random characters cursing and doing cocaine. The writing was thin, and the dialogue didn't sound real. Everything about this just felt forced.
I can't rate this book, as I have yet to finish it. It seems like this story, these characters, and this art, all had so much potential, but it all just fell flat because of a hacked-up script.
Claudio is an amazing storyteller and he has proven that many times. I just wish this graphic novel would have lived up to its expectations.
January 13, 2022
this is a fever dream but in a good way
February 9, 2025
First off, the book version did not transfer well to digital. It was utterly impossible to follow in the way it was set up on digital platforms. The story was extremely weird with extreme ideas about music and art.
What we don’t understand, we criticize or agree to like, simply because everyone else said we should. Its an unfortunate part of human nature (excluding the all so beautifully brained outliers) who couldn’t give 2 f*cks about what other peoples opinions are.
The art was fun, with the wet, black n white with red. The art really jumped out at you but it was also chaos on the eyes.
A lot of pros and cons in this one but still a bit above average for originality 3.6⭐️
What we don’t understand, we criticize or agree to like, simply because everyone else said we should. Its an unfortunate part of human nature (excluding the all so beautifully brained outliers) who couldn’t give 2 f*cks about what other peoples opinions are.
The art was fun, with the wet, black n white with red. The art really jumped out at you but it was also chaos on the eyes.
A lot of pros and cons in this one but still a bit above average for originality 3.6⭐️
June 16, 2025
This was a fun graphic novel. The plot was unique and pretty intriguing. I think the overarching ideas presented in this book were interesting and they were presented well; I just found myself not loving the story as a whole. It felt like there one or two too many characters I was supposed to care about. The art was fun, but maybe the wrong style for this story? I didn’t think the two merged well. That being said, the story was a fun read, and it was cool to see Claudio/Kill Audio as a character in the story.
March 9, 2023
This thing is weird as hell. It is by one of the guys behind Coheed and Cambria. It is about this immortal little person in a world that revolves around music. Someone is locking away the fathers of music. There’s all these weird ass characters like a chicken that’s always snorting lines. It’s the kind of out there stuff you’d expect from a rock and roller.
Sheldon Vella’s art is chaotic. At times it works well. Others I was wondering what was supposed to be happening.
Sheldon Vella’s art is chaotic. At times it works well. Others I was wondering what was supposed to be happening.
January 7, 2022
2022 5-sentence or less review:
An extremely original story (expected from Sanchez and Echert) paired with a unique cast of characters reminiscent of Adult Swim. Though I thought the art style was very cool, I had a hard time understanding what was going on in panels with no dialogue. Otherwise, the story was interesting, fun, twisted, and bizarre.
An extremely original story (expected from Sanchez and Echert) paired with a unique cast of characters reminiscent of Adult Swim. Though I thought the art style was very cool, I had a hard time understanding what was going on in panels with no dialogue. Otherwise, the story was interesting, fun, twisted, and bizarre.
March 13, 2022
The best way I could explain this book is a cross between Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Sin City. I LOVED this graphic novel. The world of Sight & Sound is so immersive I reached the end of the book and immediately wanted to go right back.
December 31, 2018
I guess I am not a comic guy. I did not enjoy this like I thought I would. The Kill Audio figure though... is Amazing!
June 5, 2022
Lots of slangs that don’t work, art and story are incoherent at times. The bad banter gets drawn out way too much. I enjoyed the premise but started skipping through just to see it it to the end.
September 26, 2010
Kill Audio is a an ugly troll of a fellow who lives in the land of Sight and Sound, a place where creativity is all important but controlled like a commodity. Kill Audio is a Void, a creature made to take down creative musical elements before they get too crazy and powerful. With the help of his crew----a song-quoting skeleton, a jive-talking rooster and an animated pillow----KA uncovers a plot to take down the very fabric of society. Jammed-packed with references to music, art and literature this is a pretty wild ride that I think unfortunately has pretty narrow appeal. But the readers who will like will REALLY like it. My only reason for rating is this low is because there were some small storytelling problems here and there where I had to re-read a page a few times to figure out what was going on.
And the art? If it were somehow possible for the art of Pink Floyd's The Wall to marry the art of Todd McFarlane's Spawn, their baby would look like this book. Bizarre, bloody, often dipping into twisted surrealism, it's gorgeously disturbing.
And the art? If it were somehow possible for the art of Pink Floyd's The Wall to marry the art of Todd McFarlane's Spawn, their baby would look like this book. Bizarre, bloody, often dipping into twisted surrealism, it's gorgeously disturbing.
March 6, 2016
I had high hopes based on the premise and a recommendation. The art is really cool, sort of surreal graffiti-style, and there are a few clever ideas (the "Kisses" that pump pop music into unwilling ears until people love it, the designs of the genres and sub-genres). But the characters are boring, the writing doesn't hang together, and the whole thing feels like a high person narrating his own masturbatory fever dream. This would work better as an annotated sketchbook than as a narrative. Anyone who has had to tolerate a stoned person who is convinced of their own genius and won't shut up already knows what it's like to read this book.
September 5, 2010
Kill Audio is the story of a short immortal man who's just trying to find his way in life. His story unfolds as his nemesis tries to kill his with a series of knife throwing knives. When this, of course, doesn't kill Kill Audio, Fixler tells him to find his purpose in life and maybe things will get better for him. This sends him on an entertaining journey that's unforgettable.
June 29, 2012
One of Sanchez's first writing attempts aside from the Coheed and Cambria saga. Creative but hard to follow so i couldn't give it a 5th star. Worth all the trouble to be able to dive into such an original story. Music fans will appreciate the references from all over the music realm and do check those out. They are listed at the back of each issue.
August 10, 2014
I don't like books that make no sense for the sake making no sense, have random crap for the sake of having random crap, characters that have cutout personalities, and don't go anywhere, . I'll probably write an actual review, but I just wanted to get my two cents in really quick.
January 3, 2011
Funny, beautiful and just plain weird. Its visually stunning. While the humor may go over most peoples heads there's still a lot that can be found in this graphic novel.
March 24, 2013
The humor and constant musical nods make this really a one of a kind read.
October 13, 2013
This was a very strange story with very odd characters. I liked the originality of the story but felt at times the graphics were hard to interpret. Overall not bad but I didn't love this.
December 15, 2020
Strange. Very, very strange.
March 30, 2013
Love this cartoon book. Claudio Sánchez has am amaizing mind.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews