Unemployed Killers Support Group Review
Writer, Artist & Letterer: Rio
Publisher: Titan Manga
Price: $12.99
Release Date: April 21, 2026
After leaving the hospital, his broker delivers more bad news. Lawrence can't afford to keep Locker on his books anymore. Sure, Locker did his job well before his head injury. But with Locker slowly losing his sight, no one wants to rely on a blind hitman. How will Locker Loyed transition to the next phase of his life? And who will help him get through it? Let's leap into the Unemployed Killers Support Group and see!
Story
Locker Loyed didn't train in the military. Still, he had exceptional shooting skills. But after someone knocks him out and steals his rifle while he's preparing to shoot his target, Locker's vision is getting fuzzy. The local doctors can't do anything for him. Experimental treatments are available overseas. But even if he could afford the airfare, Locker can't spring for the room and board during the treatment. So, Locker resigns himself to a quiet life in Angel City. At his broker’s urging, Locker attends the Unemployed Killers Support Group. Life may have passed him by. Still, at least the group’s leader, Jerry Cole, values Locker Loyed.
The group may have more chairs than members. Still, Locker gradually realizes that he likes Jerry Cole, Jordi Joe, and Gloria Maze. Trouble arises when Locker tries to help Gloria resolve a problem in her life. He also discovers that Jerry and Jordi differ from how he imagined them. Yet the central question in Rio’s story is why Locker decided to become a hitman. It's not a good-paying profession. Nor does it afford a glamorous lifestyle. Still, as Locker attends the meetings, Jerry Cole urges him to face his fears. He believes Locker cannot heal and move forward with his life until he shares his trauma with his friends.
Unemployed Killers Support Group questions the public's perceptions about assassins. The story also probes what may lead people to join organized crime and become hired killers. In a profession plagued by schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and antisocial behavior, Locker, Gloria, Jerry, and Jordi want to be better friends and make their world a better place. Unfortunately, sometimes life takes you places you don’t want to go.
Art
Time may have left Angel City behind. Still, as palm trees rise above the aging buildings, Locker rises each morning from a mattress in an abandoned diner. As his friends visit and rehearse for gigs, the pistols and rifles mounted on a pegboard remind them what Locker has lost. His chocolate lab may not be the most affectionate pet. Still, it doesn't strain at its leash unless chasing someone in the Unemployed Killers Support Group.
While Jerry treads the grand arched hallways of the courthouse, he lives in a small suburban home. Cactus sprouts from his barren front yard when Locker visits him. When Jordi spots Locker on the street, he stops his RV to give his blind friend with tousled hair a lift. On her final job as an assassin, Gloria hid among plants while scoping out a hotel. Then, she picked a lock and burst into the room with a silenced pistol. Unlike Gloria in her quietly casual clothing, Jordi drifts through life with blond hair, a tuft of beard on his chin, and an irrepressible smile. Yet when tragedy strikes, Jordi collapses into Locker’s arms as tears stream from his eyes.
Black uppercase letters fill dialogue balloons and narrative boxes. Unlike in a typical manga, the dialogue and narrative flow from left to right like a black-and-white graphic novel. The larger letters in deformed balloons accompany raised voices in the panel-packed pages. Sound effects help readers hear hand-to-hand combat, gunfire, a handset rocking on its cradle as the landline phone rings, and Locker’s dog barking in anger. Thanks to Titan Manga for providing a review copy.
Final Thoughts
Locker Loyed was a hitman. Now, he’s a casualty of his profession, cast adrift without a net from the society that abandoned him. His prospects for the future may be few. Still, despite all the people he's hurt and killed, Locker still has a good heart in the heartwarming, heartbreaking, and humorous Unemployed Killers Support Group.
Rating 9/10
To look inside, see my preview of Unemployed Killers Support Group.
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