Writer: Matz
Illustrator: Luc Jacamon
English Translator: Edward Gauvin
Letterer: Andworld Design
Cover Artists: Luc Jacamon, Tyler Boss & Christian Ward
Publisher: Archaia (Boom! Studios)
Price: $4.99
Release Date: May 21, 2025
When he cannot sleep, a man wanders through the woods. A full moon lights his way as he hops from one rocky outcropping to another. He brings a gun and wonders about the wolves that inhabit the night. But after trekking miles from his mountain cabin, he gazes through binoculars at a house he has visited before. What will he do when he sees human traffickers beating one of their victims? Let’s lace up our hiking boots, leap into The Killer: Affairs Of The State II #1, and find out!
Story
After witnessing cruelty, the man hikes back home. His employers sent him out here for a reason. He isn't supposed to be seeking out company. Nor does he want it. He tells himself that humanity suffers from cancer, and he is as sick as anyone else. Perhaps with an ever-growing global population, his profession makes sense. But when he returns home, he finds another vehicle parked outside. Despite the necessity of his work, it also has its dangers.
Matz relates his story through his central character’s eyes. He doesn’t give the man a name. Nor does his character talk much, except when telling his employer what he needs. The man's musings grapple with the incurable nature of the human condition. As his thoughts range from prehistory to today, the man views himself as an artisan in The Killer: Affairs Of The State II #1. He is a skilled craftsman that the human traffickers cannot replace with an unskilled workforce. No matter how poorly he regards his fellow humans, he clings to this fact even if it makes him no better than anyone else.
The man's wandering monologue hints at how lost he feels. His latest target is likely evil. Yet he realizes that no one ever pays him to kill those as evil as the human traffickers. Despite the futility of trying to change the course of human non-evolution (as he sees it), a situation arises that upsets his clinical reserve. He knows he cannot become involved. Yet what he faces affects him, nonetheless.
Art
As the character hikes through the early morning hours, Luc Jacamon lavishes muted color palettes on historic panoramas in The Killer: Affairs Of The State II #1. When the man’s thoughts on humanity reach modern times, the illustrator juxtaposes brightly colored scenes of refugees crammed into boats with vacationers relaxing on the beach. Luc Jacamon paints the moonlit night purple, as white headlights and red taillights spear the darkness. But as he treks home, a thin stream of white rises from a distant building amid the light and dark blues of the snowbound hills and mountains.
Our character inhabits the clean modern lines of his brick and stone house. He gazes out the plate-glass windows at the surrounding landscape. When the man travels to the city to prepare for his next assignment, he photographs historic monuments of humanity's achievements. The man also photographs the target and the nearby streets before embarking on his long drive home. Despite all our time with him, we rarely see the central character’s entire face in The Killer: Affairs Of The State II #1. The rest of the time, his eyes hide behind the reflective lenses of his glasses or helmet visor.
Andworld Design fits a thin, uppercase font in white boxes. An arrow slithers toward the speaker's face from dialogue boxes. The small words occasionally enlarge. But like the rectangles framing his thoughts and words, the man wants to escape notice, not attract attention. Yet larger letters fill the air or the occasional rounded dialogue balloon, reminding the man that he cannot control everything in his carefully ordered world. Thanks to Archaia and Boom for providing a copy for review.
Final Thoughts
When a hitman struggling to justify his profession discovers a human trafficking operation on his doorstep, he begins to wonder how long he can keep blaming society for humanity's ills in The Killer: Affairs Of The State II #1.
Rating 8.8/10
For more cover art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.
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