Kill or Be Killed #1

Written by Ed Brubaker, Art by Sean Phillips, Colours by Elizabeth Breitweiser
Published by Image Comics

A Gritty Opening to a Psychological Spiral

The first issue of Kill or Be Killed doesn’t waste time with small talk. It throws the reader straight into a blurred mess of rage, blood, and questions. The opening pages depict an unnamed man, ski-masked and armed, blasting his way through what appears to be a revenge killing. The narration, sardonic and self-aware, signals something deeper is at play than another masked vigilante tale. This is not Batman. This is a slow descent — or depending on your perspective, a justified awakening.

What unfolds across the 30-odd pages is the unravelling of Dylan, a troubled and socially invisible graduate student who survives a suicide attempt, only to be told by a demon that he must kill one bad person every month or die. Whether this demon is real or a manifestation of mental illness is deliberately ambiguous, and it’s this tension that Brubaker sustains masterfully throughout the issue. The story isn’t about vigilantism. It’s about guilt, mental deterioration, and the allure of violent clarity when life feels meaningless.

The Creative Team Behind the Blood

Ed Brubaker has long occupied a unique position in modern comics. Known for redefining superhero noir (Captain America: The Winter Soldier) and resurrecting pulp storytelling through creator-owned titles like Criminal, The Fade Out, and Fatale, he excels at writing morally complex, psychologically fractured characters. Dylan is very much in that lineage — less a traditional antihero, more a man caving under the weight of his own helplessness.

Where Brubaker shines is in interior monologue. His narration flows with the rhythm of private thought, often contradictory, raw, and brutally honest. He doesn’t write action for spectacle; he writes it as a consequence. Violence in Kill or Be Killed is not stylised — it’s often clumsy, uncomfortable, and regretful. That makes it land harder.

Sean Phillips, Brubaker’s long-time collaborator, brings a familiar but refined touch to the visuals. Readers of Criminal or The Fade Out will recognise his thick lines, moody faces, and ability to render urban decay with eerie precision. But Kill or Be Killed is arguably his grittiest work to date. The panel structure is restrained, sometimes claustrophobic, mirroring Dylan’s inner confinement. There’s a quiet despair in Phillips’s cityscapes — shadows dominate, angles tilt just enough to unsettle, and every room feels like it could swallow the protagonist whole.

The third part of this triumvirate, Elizabeth Breitweiser, deserves special mention. Her colouring sets the emotional tone from the first panel. She works in tones of bruised greys and washed-out reds, subtly switching palettes as Dylan’s mind frays. Her work in this issue is a perfect example of colour not just supporting a story, but expanding its psychological reach.

Together, this team functions like a band in perfect sync — you can’t pull one member out without losing the tone.

An interior page from Kill or Be Killed #1, coloured by Elizabeth Breitweiser

A Grounded, Grim Exploration of Morality

So, is Kill or Be Killed #1 worth your time? Yes — if you’re ready for a comic that doesn’t give you answers, let alone easy ones. This is not escapist storytelling. Brubaker poses hard questions about justice and punishment, but also about isolation, depression, and the seduction of feeling powerful in a world that ignores you. That’s uncomfortable terrain, and it’s supposed to be.

What makes this issue particularly successful is how it balances internal crisis with external action. There is a plot here — a demon, a murder, a motive — but the real story is what’s going on in Dylan’s head. Is the demon real? Does it matter? If killing someone truly evil makes the world better, does that make it right? And if your sanity depends on committing acts of violence, are you still in control?

Not every reader will be on board. The pace is slow in parts, heavy on narration, and Brubaker leaves more questions than he answers. If you’re looking for punch-heavy storytelling or traditional hero arcs, this might frustrate. But if you’re drawn to psychologically complex storytelling — something more in the realm of Taxi Driver than Daredevil — this is a standout debut.

Final Thoughts

Kill or Be Killed #1 is a compelling and unsettling opener. It lays psychological groundwork with precision, leans on a trusted creative partnership to deliver moody, noir-infused storytelling, and doesn’t flinch from its themes. It won’t be for everyone — and that’s the point. This is a comic that wants you to squirm, to question the motives of its narrator, and to follow him not because you agree with him, but because you can’t look away.

You won’t find Kill or Be Killed #1 in most shops these days but it’s not hard to track down online. Several copies are listed on eBay, and at the time of writing, the cheapest copy available is here.