The Voice Said Kill #1 Review

 

Writer: Si Spurrier

Artist: Vanesa Del Rey

Colorist: John Starr

Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou

Graphic Designer: Emma Price

Editor: Eric Harburn

Cover Artists: Vanesa Del Rey, Christian Ward & Tula Lotay

Publisher: Image Comics

Price: $4.99

Release Date: July 23, 2025

 

A man wanders through the swamp. Plants and trees close in from all sides. Covered in blood, he crouches in the muddy water to drink from an ornate flask. His bloody knife rests in a mushroom-covered tree root. Yet as he walks through the trees, the clouds part, heralding a new day. Who is this wounded man? And why is he bathed in blood? Let’s leap into The Voice Said Kill #1 and see!

 

Story

Sergeant Marie Burgau is holding down the fort. It’s not that the other agents at the Corbeaumort Wildlife Management Area office don’t want to help. But every time they try to leave their homes, they can’t reach their vehicles without growing violently ill. It all started at an office barbecue. While everyone was living it up, Marie was being cautious, being with child and all. When things got out of hand, Marie sent the rest of the team home. But some of them landed in the hospital with food poisoning. It's just as well, Marie took it easy and didn’t eat or drink anything that might upset her stomach.

 

In The Voice Said Kill #1, Marie hopes for a quiet week. It starts like a sad routine, with Mr Norris bailing out the Watters boys. Then Mrs Watters summons her. The uncrowned swampland queen plays the Wildlife agency game. She pays the fines when agents catch her sons and employees poaching. In return, Mrs Watters wants Marie to find one of her sons.

 

Si Spurrier delves into dark waters in The Voice Said Kill #1. Marie is alone and suffering. She struggles with morning sickness, worries about carrying her child safely to term, and quickly grows fatigued. But Marie can't just sit in the office all day. She must respond to requests from her state dispatcher. Marie also has an ex-convict to find. Buck has a violent history, and he is off his meds. And while most of Mrs Watters' workers may spend a night or two in the Corbeaumort Wildlife office’s holding cells, Buck blames the “trash with badges” for sending him to jail.

 

Art

Vanesa Del Rey presents the immensity of the wilderness that Marie and her crew must oversee. The tall, dense foliage offers ample opportunities to hide. The art suggests the toll the rustic setting and the humid air take on its inhabitants. Mrs Watters rules her commercial empire from her RV. Smoke from her cigarette wafts across pages, framing panels, and portraying her majesty and Marie from different angles. But Vanesa Del Rey keeps the camera moving in loosely drawn pages that immerse us in Marie’s daily dilemmas.

 

John Starr weaves a captivating spell over this wonderland of wildlife, where people skate the rules defining legal activity. Textured surfaces show the dirt and grime that invades vehicles and buildings. Bold streaks of sunlight enliven Mrs Watter’s blonde hair, linking her with Buck’s gold, catlike eyes, and the mushrooms adorning the thick aerial roots. The blood covering Buck appears more magenta than crimson. Teal, purple, blue, and pink bring the jungle to life as a mentally ill man seeks revenge on his enemies in The Voice Said Kill #1.

 

Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou places lowercase letters in roughly shaped boxes and spherical balloons. Words grow bold and uppercase for emphasis and shrink for lowered or distant voices. Strong reactions deform dialogue balloons, while the sounds of sickness fill splotches. Sound effects help us hear Mrs Watters punishing her personnel and a barbaric barrage in the bayou. Thanks to Image Comics for providing a review copy.

 

Final Thoughts

Forced into an impossible situation, a Wildlife Management agent faces an additional dilemma while struggling to perform routine tasks. The Voice Said Kill #1 portrays how the demands of motherhood change women and the thankless task of enforcing rules that most people don't care about.

 

Rating 9/10

 

For more cover art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.