Killtopia by Dave Cook, Craig Paton
Killtopia is an electrifying trip, perfectly told by Dave Cook's writing and Craig Paton's illustrations.
Life officially sucks. Humanity is being torn apart. The world is a battleground; Wreckers hunt rogue mechs in search of money through salvage at one end, and fame and eternal glory at the other. It's a bright, beautiful mess of a place to be, if you can survive.
Volume one of this cyberpunk graphic novel – written by Dave Cook and illustrated by Craig Paton – is a blood-spattered whistlestop tour; we meet rookie Wrecker Shinji who just wants to save his sister, and the first sentient mech who wants to be more than a machine. The ragtag duo have one goal: to make it out alive.
But making it out alive isn’t easy in Killtopia. Take returning champ Stiletto; we meet her smiling, holding an opponent’s head casually like a football after a match. "Destruction and peril are their addiction, wealth and fame are their reward," it reads. Face off against the two-time Wreck-fest champion with her signature new and improved sword in tow and few would live to tell the tale.
With Shinji surviving on the outskirts and doing everything in his power for his sister on the left, and the world’s best and most celebrated Wrecker on the right, it’s a story that the brilliant dynamic of Cook's writing and Paton's illustrations is perfect for.
Neon-soaked nano-plague infestations, high-tech low life jackets, stiletto whip swords; the glam post-apocalyptic world is a great read, and the pinks and purples of the illustrations are almost deceptively calm as death sprawls the pages. Killtopia is an electrifying trip, and the battle’s only just beginning.