The year is 2125, and the all-powerful corporation Overcon uses its robot workers to pour our drinks and dispense our meds, all while rebuilding London’s Central City into a hyper-modern megalopolis bolted together in its own image. But as Overcon prepares to celebrate the first year of its Paradise Loop—a superfast transatlantic train that connects the Central City to New York in under 60 minutes—an unwieldy army of displaced human workers floods the streets with weapons, plotting an attack at the anniversary gala. Enter: Gina Serene, a stressed-out, pill-popping police detective in desperate need of a vacation and her ex-partner turned P.I., Lance Wingman—who are now the only thing standing between Overcon’s skyscraper-sized fist and the worker uprising that threatens to bring Britain’s capital crashing down around them. Destination Kill #1 takes us to the future for a story rooted in today’s economic and political climate.

Written by Joe Palmer, Destination Kill #1 is an interesting debut with a style about it that would feel right at home with something like 2000 AD or Heavy Metal. Set in the future, a corporation has taken over major cities and rebuilt them with robots. Those robots seemingly have displaced human workers who are fighting back against the corporate overlords. While we haven’t quite gotten to full scale assaults, the series feels like it’s rooted in the unease of today. Technology, particularly AI, is displacing workers adding to an already shaky economic reality.

At the center of the comic is a police detective, Gina Serene, who wants a vacation but gets dragged into the current conflict. There’s a rather interesting aspect to the comic with the center being a police officer, a position and job that today is met with skepticism and full of abuse. Serene does come off as a likely clean but flawed cop in a department where something is off. The police go overboard in their reactions and the response to the current rise of the workers feels odd overall. It creates suspicion but also lifts Serene up as a character we might be able to generally trust.

Palmer also provides the art the lettering and joined on color by Folasade Olaseni. The style of the comic has a bit like Simon Bisley’s work on Lobo and would fit neatly into 2000 AD or Heavy Metal like the general story. There’s something chaotic about the art that fits so well in a society that itself is melting down. The designs are intriguing in that the comic looks very futuristic but it doesn’t distract as well. There’s a lot of detail and work to give you an idea of the world but it’s done to help shape the world as opposed to really drive home the story itself.

Destination Kill #1 is a nice debut that’s entertaining and shows off a lot of potential. It has a rather kinetic and frenetic feel to it all as the story itself spins into chaos. It’s a solid read for those that enjoy futuristic stories with something to say about our current world, luckily it also entertains with madcap action.

Story: Joe Palmer Art: Joe Palmer
Color: Folasade Olaseni Letters: Joe Palmer
Story: 7.75 Art: 8.0 Overall: 7.75 Recommendation: Read

Oni Press provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

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Purchase: Zeus Comics – Kindle