‘The Kill Screen #1: I Love You’ Review

Written by Mike Garley | Art by Josh Sherwell | Lettering by Mike Stock | Format: Paperback, 32pp RRP £3.50

Humanity has reached its Kill Screen. Computer errors have transcended from their digital world and have infected the real one, destroying everything in their way. The result is a bitter battle for survival for the humans as they try to avoid those infected with the errors. Chris and Jill meet in the middle of a deadly death match, where infected humans fight against each other and anyone who gets in their way. They must find a way out, avoiding the infected as best they can, or suffer the consequences.

I commend Mike Garley, writer of The Kill Screen, for coming up with such a good story. I found myself hooked from the beginning, especially with such an interesting concept. You could look at this story as a offset of the ‘zombie’ genre, infected humans, fights for survival and with main character’s called Chris and Jill, it does leave you wondering if it is a nod towards Resident Evil. But, it has its own unique approach, which makes it feel new and fresh, not just a re-hash of old story lines crammed together. This story doesn’t pull its punches either, beginning the comic with a dark scene which will leave you questioning throughout it.

The comic is further emphasised by the art from Josh Sherwell, really playing heavily on the “computerised” aspect of the storyline. You will often find yourself staring at pixelated blood, error screens and other nods towards computer software and games as it streams out into the open world. Chris, Jill and the other characters look very real and filled with emotion throughout the comic, which works perfectly to balance the pixel heavy computer aspects of the story and the pages are panelled in such a way that the comic doesn’t lose pace, keeping you reading right up until the end.

Embarrassingly, I was caught for a long time, waiting for the comic to load on my computer, only to realise that the loading symbol on my screen was part of the comic. I don’t know if this counts towards anything except my lack of intelligence, but it didn’t make the comic itself any less of an amazing read.

The Kill Screen #1: I Love You will be premiering at the MCM London Comic Con on May 24th.