Killadelphia Volume 4: The End of All

Killadelphia #19-24

by Rodney Barnes, Jason Shawn Alexander (Artist), Luis Nct (Artist)

The perfect jumping on point for new readers and a pivotal turning point for the series! The sold-out, Eisner Award-nominated horror series returns with a brand new arc from Rodney Barnes, the writer behind such hit shows as HBO’s Winning Time and STARZ’s American Gods, and Jason Shawn Alexander, the artist who redefined SPAWN.

After two and a half centuries, the greatest hero in American history has returned as its greatest threat! George Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, Founding Father, First President of the United States... and all-powerful Vampire King! Now undead detective James Sangster Sr. and his werewolf allies must fight for the survival of every man, woman and child in the country. But what can they do against the very leader who won the battle for America the first time around?!

Collects KILLADELPHIA #19-24

Genres: Comics, Horror, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Fantasy

160 pages, Paperback

Published November 1, 2022

About the author

Comic book writer

Reviews

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I cannot tell a lie- this series is still outrageous, iconoclastic fun!

[James]

Gonna have to revisit this one. There was a giant plot hole that wasn’t adding up. One minute everyone is trying to fight the vampires and take Philly back and the next minute, they are teaming up with the vampires??? Yeah that made no sense. So I’m hoping there was some tid bit of info that I missed to make this make sense. May just wait till vol 5 comes out and reread all of it.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series introduces yet another pair of historical figures, and we spend another volume of build up toward a big climax. George Washington and Toussaint Louverture join the party, and we're still on the brink of war. Hopefully, the next volume will move the story even further. I do still love the gritty, dark art. I'll keep reading this series!

[Adrienna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This "End of All" takes us on a historical plane: 3 first presidents all come in this issue. It touches on the downfall of mankind, especially the Black race, and Philadelphia not the brotherly love in this volume #4. I still like the fatherly-son team.

Three mystical beings: vamps, wolves, and witches.

The one issue that bothered me was putting the thorns and cross depiction on "see-saw" and previous volume illustrated this character resurrecting the dead vamp spirit out of a girl and made her normal, also James Sangster, Jr.

I am not sure if I agreed with the ending. I did not see the wolves and witch joining forces with the elite or top vampires to save their lives from resurrected Tourrisant and the Haitians. Otherwise, I enjoyed it.

borrowed copy via eBook

[Em H. · Rating 2 out of 5]

[2.5 stars rounded down]

[Zedsdead]

And yet another undead founding father joins the cast. George Washington recounts his temptation by a mysterious creature in abstract, purple musings and that's about where I read-failed. One graphic novel volume should be a two day read but I've had to force myself to pick it back up over and over for three weeks now. The series has completely lost my interest. DNF at around 40%.

[Rick Ray · Rating 2 out of 5]

Further escalation of the story elements introduced in the previous few arcs culminated in "The End of All", a story that now features the first ever President of the United States as a vampire king himself, locked into mortal combat with Haitian revolutionary Toussaint Louverture. We're moving past just vampires at this point as werewolves serve as a prominent feature of the story. As with previous volumes of Killadelphia, the story excels when Barnes focuses on the retelling of history with a vampire mythos attached since he's able to spin the complicated history of the transatlantic slave trade into a compelling fable readily. It's the clash with the modern story elements featuring the Sangster father and son duo making weird allegiances with the other vampires that doesn't quite come together. This volume was the weakest since it does feel almost parodying of a formula that worked better in earlier issues, but now feels like its escalating for the sake of coming to a conclusion. The first volume was a strong self-contained narrative and I do think this series has outstretched far beyond the initial interesting premise. The artwork by Jason Shawn Alexander does continue to excel though.

[Bandit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, now it’s just getting silly. The author just can’t stop resurrecting famous historical figures, and all the vampires/weres fights are rather trite and have been done and done and done before.
I mean, yes, it’s funny at first, just how studly the founding fathers have turned out to be in their second act or just how insanely bodacious Abigail Adams is, but after a while, it’s just…silly.
And it drags on and on too. Frustrating because the art is gorgeous, the writing itself is very nice, but the plot leaves a lot, A LOT, to be desired. Unless you’re really into conventional monsters and unconventional historical renditions.
And yes, Barnes has a lot to say here about race and equality, but the message gets all but lost in all the carnage and action.
Mildly entertaining still and stunning to look at, but otherwise kind of played out, much like the city it’s so determined to kill off.

[Joey Nardinelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m reading this and the fifth volume in more of a rush just to get to what I assume is the end of this series before it auto-returns to the library. I felt like this episode was a lot of static? Seesaw shifting allegiances and then bringing eventually the werewolves, the witch, and Sangster along with him felt forced and their motivations were unclear (survival, I guess? But honestly they all struck me as “die figgting” types and given that’s literally where the story ends for Seesaw in this volume, I can’t say I get it). I like the idea of adding more and more historical figures to the mix, but 1-2 per volume feels a little silly. I’m hoping we get a whole lineup of presidents at some point. Maybe Douglass and Lincoln are going to show up leading a bunch of revives from the ranks of the antebellum diaspora. I feel like thematically, having a grip of black characters mess up a white-led army of vampires would be fitting?

[Paige · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay so this was definitely an in between book and I’m definitely giving it 4 stars because I can’t get over the visuals. If anything we got more bloated and confusing before (I guess? I haven’t actually checked) the finale. There’s just something about these books with its ability to talk about problems with gangs and poverty with vampirism. Then you’ve also got presidents back from the dead to talk about why the country was founded on problematic ideas and how problematic ideas still carry so much weight today because they've never really been addressed. And like you also somehow balance a son who’s trying to understand his father and find his own way. And I don’t know I think I came to this because I thought the title was funny and I’m constantly surprised by what they’re able to accomplish within each volume.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit of an improvement from the last arc, but this still has way too many characters and stories and there's little to nothing in the way of transition from one to the next, so as you read, you're likely to be confused quite often about what is going on. This time out, we've got black militant werewolves, Haitian vampire hunters, and George Washington himself all joining the "fun." I enjoyed the earlier volumes of this, but it really is starting to read like a story that's running out of gas. It's only a matter of time before Ben Franklin makes an appearance, for instance. The artwork is all right, but no great shakes, and often makes the reading experience more difficult than need be.

[Alex Sarll]

Feels odd to kick off with a musing on all the things humans will do to avoid facing the finality of death in a series which not only has tons of vampires, but has already shown us angels, demons and the afterlife. Still, people seem to have forgiven Hamlet a similar clash. More of a problem is that as the battle for Philadelphia hots up and both sides pull in new allies, the way the series used to function as a metaphor for America's sins is getting lost in an urban gothic answer to the last Hobbit film. And at least one of the big reveals feels so obvious that it actively undermines the ingenuity of what went before.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

The End Of All feels a bit transitory - there's a lot of moving characters around the board as the greater threat is revealed, and we get some new characters that have to have their backstories explained, so it certainly feels like we've stalled a little in terms of story momentum. Literally, the last issue cliffhanger here feels like where the story should have started.

Still, there's nothing wrong with telling your story this way - it'll likely read much better in collected form, and when you've got the next volume to head straight into. The art's still stellar, as well.

[Talisha McChriston · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love see saws character. When I first started the series I thought it would be more so focused on the sangsters but I love getting the back stories of the other characters.


SPOILER
Not going to lie I'm glad Toppy is gone he was definitely one of my least favorite characters. Also Thomas Jefferson is such a kiss ass 😅

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's all out war in the streets of Philadelphia. Vampires, witches and resurrected founding father's lead the battle against resurrected Haitian soldiers powered by heaven. There is literally no way to explain this beyond that. It's an utterly ridiculous supernatural story with extreme amount of violence and it works.

[Gabriel Xavier · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m still here just for the art and curious about how they are going to tie things up because I almost cannot believe it was another full volume introducing more historical figures and their past, it’s all looking the same without getting to the point. Climax was built, I just want for it to end now or take a serious turn.

[Kaitlyn (ktxx22) Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the addition of the light warriors but the whiplash this series is giving me on who I’m supposed to be rooting for is really throwing me off. There’s only one more volume left and I’m happy it’s nearly finished because these last couple of volumes have been rough.

[Xroldx · Rating 5 out of 5]

A modern vampire comic that also tackles a lot of what was and is wrong in the United States. This series gets better by the volume.

[The_J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting Presidents' conference from founding to inflection point, and then of course the Conflict between the Adams: Abigal v. John.

[connor connor connor · Rating 4 out of 5]

this series kicks ass. I’m excited for the conclusion.

[M.i. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciate how much fun the writers seem to have in making this. It’s an interesting take on America, it’s history and it’s myths..

[Stefan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the strongest instalment, but still some good stuff. Felt a bit like the story lurched forward. Will be interesting to see where it goes next.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series is so crazy and I love it. I’m here for our supernatural founding fathers

[Rahul Nadella · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are a lot of factions in play here in this volume, as well as potentially shifting alliances. This is a volume that requires some careful reading, but it is well worth the reward.

[Kakope Kalaluka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great art but the story is all over the place.

[John A · Rating 4 out of 5]

The saga continues, adding in a new dimension and a new character

[Rafael Suleiman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good graphic novel.