Hellcity: The Whole Damn Thing

by Macon Blair, Joe Flood (Artist)

Crime noir, grotesque horror, and pitch-black comedy collide when a detective in the capital city of Hell discovers a scandal that threatens the Devil's supremacy and ignites a human/demon race war.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Horror, Fantasy

328 pages, Paperback

First published August 24, 2010

Reviews

[zxvasdf · Rating 5 out of 5]

All the noir conceits are here, except it's in Hell. It works so well on many levels. The protagonist is hired for a job, but it quickly becomes personal. Regret and betrayal ensues amid deception.

The amount of detail in this stark black and white graphic novel forces you to look closer, and you realize it is a labor of love. Kinetic, and incredibly visceral. The car chase sequence is one of my favorite parts, and God is funny as hell.

I only have one question... If you die in Hell, where do you go? Is there a basement to the place or what?

[Buck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Macon Blair crafts a wickedly fun (and funny) hardboiled noir set in the titular site of damnation. Lots of playing with tropes, and amazing art. Every page is crammed with eye catching chicken fat.

Good stuff.

[Mert · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Cehennemde günlük hayat" gibi pek öyle her yerde denk gelinemeyecek değişik bir konuya sahip, komik, sürükleyici, çizim kalitesi ortalamanın üzerinde bir çizgi roman.

[Brendan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Blair and Flood took Sartre’s dictum that “Hell is other people” and brought it to life, creating a netherworld that closely mimics the world of the United States, and a capital city that seems to be New York. Of course, everyone living in Hell has a demon roommate who doesn’t pick up the dishes and can smack them around any time they want. Former P.I. and suicide Bill Tankersly is recruited by a demon to investigate the strange behavior of Lucifer, who evinces a nice attitude that has all Hell confused and worried. Throw in an underworld power play, an illicit passage to Heaven, and a fomenting revolution, and you have all the makings of an entertaining story.

That said, the comic never really grabbed me by the lapel, and the vision of hell as a place of eternal annoyances (rather than eternal torments) was a little underwhelming. Perhaps it’s a death by a thousand cuts kind of torture. Last, demons and humans and angels alike seem to be able to die in the afterlife, but the comic never explains what happens after they die. Irritating!

[Nōn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The artwork, as a friend of mine pointed to, is like something you'd see in some of the UK comics of the 80s. Things like Tank Girl, Judge Dredd, et al. It's raw, rough-edged and heavy in its ink. The story is fascinating: a detective fights politics and corruption in Hellcity, a sort of suburb of Hell. It's subversive, a little funny, but not fantastic.

[Frank McGirk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice idea: Hell as regular life, just with demons (including your mandatory roommate) tormenting you a bit each day. Good noir feel, but the ending didn't quite work for me, and the art's a bit substandard.

Fun read though.

[Michaelt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story, PI sent to hell for suicide after he can't live without his wife, who's death was indirectly caused by himself. He then gets an offer from a deviless for a better station if he can help solve the problem with Lucifer.

[Joe Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

Macon Blair - writer
Joe Flood - artist

3/5 stars

[amy boese · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hellcity is almost perfect - the art is sometimes iffy, but fits the feeling of the book, and the writing is fantastic. Clever, snarky, touching and funny. Really an adult read.

[Mari · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the film noir, old-school detective vibe to it. I liked the art. The story was interesting, but it seemed a little simple for my taste, no real surprises.

[Luke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Confusing, carnal and creative.

[Rob Bockman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Puerile and faux-edgy, but a lot of fun, with a superb kinetic style from Joe Flood's scrawling line work.