Destination Kill #1 hit me like a brick made out of equal parts Terry Gilliam and Jet Set Radio. It’s a loud dystopian world set in a future where a 60 minute train has united New York City and London, creating a new super powerful world order that favors authority and austerity over working class concerns and unity. It’s simultaneously very American ’70s crime drama and very British panopticon sci-fi.
At the heart of the conflict in Destination Kill #1 is a company called Overcon, a major multinational conglomerate that has largely robotized their workforce and displaced humans. No longer employed, these people have turned to violent protests as they’ve ostensibly been cut from the fabric of society. Posters riddle the world stating “nonconformists will be punished” and the nonconformist on display is a hardhat wearing construction worker holding a sledgehammer. These workers are dying while the capital class is dining on hors d’oeuvres and bubbly.
Oni Press
Stuck in the middle of these two factions is Gina Serene, a police officer who just needs to get through one more shift until she’s off work for a few weeks and gets to unplug from the complexities of her world. She’s eventually put in a position where she has to make a choice: will she accept the status quo or answer a call to action that can restore power to the people and give them their dignity back.
Destination Kill #1 is a wild ride. From writer/artist Joe Palmer, and color by Folasade Olasen, it’s so refreshing to see a cartoonish take on a world. Every panel is stuffed with personality and a distinct sense of style. I referenced Terry Gilliam and Jet Set Radio, but another thing in feels like it’s referencing is the work of animator Genndy Tartakovsky. Characters strike dramatic, heroic poses and bodies are simultaneously rigid and rounded. While the story may reflect present day concerns about workers rights and authoritarianism, the character design and reflects the stoicism of Soviet propaganda posters but with a loose energy that feels like ’90s counter culture.
Oni Press
There’s a lot going on in this book, but it never feels overwhelming. The story moves clearly and briskly through a world gone mad (but again, not that different than the one we find ourselves in today), and every panel packs so many ideas, references, and opinions that I joyfully re-read it several times. Each run through the book knocked another thought loose in my head and I felt like a conspiracy theorist, using mental red yarn to connect the themes and ideas together.
As interesting as the world is, it’s really Gina Serene that’s compelling. She accepts the world as it is but she knows something is off. That idea of uncomfortable acknowledgement, of rising anger at a system you’re a part of… again, it feels so relevant, and it’s nice seeing a book not shy away from those ideas but embrace them wholeheartedly and explore what they really mean and what they say about us as we pioneer ahead.
I cannot recommend Destination Kill #1 enough. It’s an oversized book that presents a fascinating world with compelling characters. It gives you new ideas every page, like a video game that’s constantly exposing you to new mechanics, and each page helps you re-frame your point of view on Gina Serene and the supporting characters and factions that make up this world gone wrong. There’s so much personality and style, that it’s easy to get lost in such a refreshing display of auteurism that challenges you and what you believe in.
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