by Kevin Gaussoin, Editor-in-Chief

Official Description:
Something is Killing the Children horror vibes mix with The Goonies-style adventure as five friends set off to shoot a short film on a forbidden rock near their home the summer before they all go their separate ways. But that’s not really why they’re there. One of them has lied. And that lie will change their lives forever.

Eisner-winning writer KELLY THOMPSON (BLACK CLOAK) and superstar artist MATTIA DE IULIS (Captain America) team up for their first creator-owned work together! 

*SPOILERS*

You may have already noticed that I’ve given The Cull #1 a perfect 5/5 score, and you might also note that this is horror and I don’t normally give horror 5/5 because it’s hard to argue that horror can be the “everything to everyone” that such a rating indicates (I should really post our rating scale eventually. We’ve used it for about 16 years and it’s kinda funny). But what if this book makes up for that? Listen, I have my concerns, sure. It mostly comes down to “Hey guys, I’m really loving this intro, but how am I supposed to enjoy this for ONLY 5 issues?!” 

Look, we all read Kelly Thompson’s Eisner-winning Hawkeye series. We read her West Coast Avengers (2018) and we were sad when it was cancelled. We read her Captain Marvel and her Deadpool issues. We were thrilled by her amazing Black Widow (2020) and so we’re pretty confident that the story is going to hold up here, but only 5 issues?

Likewise, we’ve fallen in love with Mattia de Iulis’ art. He’s popped up in a bunch of books we’ve read, but his storytelling abilities probably shone brightest in Jane Foster Valkyrie and The Mighty Valkyries. These were some of the best “Thor” books of all time, and let’s face it, that’s saying a lot. 

So you put these two together, a writer who brings together action, comedy, and drama with an artist who despite his relative new dude on the comic block status could clearly go toe to toe with the likes of the legendary Alex Ross and what do you get from The Cull #1? Some shiz has gone down, and some way worse shiz is about to really truly go down… Well, I did say *SPOILERS* paragraphs ago, so here ya go: 

Cleo has lost (assumedly her brother) Jakey Washington. Under the guise/totally unforgivable lie that they are going out to shoot a short film, Cleo’s friends go out to Black Water Beach at a 3am low tide. What her friends learn at the end of the first issue is that the cave through the big black rock opens up at the other end in another world entirely. What we as readers learn even sooner is that this will end in extra dimensional horrors being unleashed on earth and eating humans. 

How many humans? Is this only 5 issues because it’s just a horrific tragedy and reminder to not eff with extra dimensional beasts even if they did kidnap/eat your kid brother because you will only make it far worse, you idiot teenagers? I dunno, but I love it so far. 

Rating:
ComicsOnline gives The Cull #1 – 5/5 perfect introductions.

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