Rock Reads: Jill and the Killers

"Jill and the Killers" - Issue #1 - (Oni Press)

Here's the debut issue of "Jill and the Killers" from the folks at American comic book and graphic novel publisher Oni Press ("Rick and Morty," "Scott Pilgrim," "Wasteland.") The issue sets the scene for future releases, beginning with the opening page which depicts a vehicle submerged in water and titular character Jill trying to get someone out, but it is just the one page that deals with this and it is not otherwise explained so this will unfold in subsequent issues. Jill is a high school student and she's missed a year because of the trauma from the accident and she initially has lots of problems when she goes back to school; she has flashbacks of the accident which haunt her as she tries to maintain a place on the school's swim team, and her relationship with her school chums is shaky at best. Amusingly, at one point her pals use slang that she clearly doesn't understand. Eventually she is brought back into the fold when she finds out that like herself, her friends are into true crime podcasts and "crime boxes" that are kits that are sent to the home that contain a crime scenario for the recipients to solve. When Jill talks her dad into buying one, what is received turns out to ring a little too true as it chronicles two deaths (and maybe a third) that happened in the small Northern Arizona town where the story is set. Shocking things are turned up as the girls investigate, making some of the gang want to give up the investigation but Jill convinces them all to carry on. So there are lots of directions the story can go in, and to top it all off Jill's mother is missing; Jill thinks she's dead but her father does not. There's also a creepy old lady with tons of dolls (and a lisp.) With the story written by Olivia Cuartero-Briggs and great illustration by Roberta Ingranata (who has created four different covers for the issue) this first offering of "Jill and the Killers" leaves readers wanting more. See all the titles that Oni Press has available here.

Rating:

Share this article