Book of Doom: Foolkiller #1

For this week’s Book of Doom, I chose the first issue of the new Foolkiller mini-series. Overall, I liked it a great deal. I have two complaints, though, and they are significant. Let’s get those out of the way first. Number one, I don’t particularly care for “edgy” comic books. The only difference between this issue and any regular comic book of the same nature is that this one has gratuitous swearing and gore. The gore is really quite repulsive, actually, and quite unnecessary. I don’t normally get grossed out, but the shit’s just sick in some spots. My other main complaint is the price-tag. I’m sick and tired of comics costing $3.99 for no good reason.

Still, though, I’ve been a big fan of the Foolkiller for awhile now. He’s goofy and campy and fun, in a depraved sort of way. Hopefully we’ll see more of that in the next few issues. More fun, less gore. I’m really holding out any judgment on the series until we hear the Foolkiller talk a little bit. If the writer is able to create the same sort of insanely fun character as from the early ’90s “Foolkiller,” I’ll be more than happy to stick around, even if the price tag is a bit much.

What’s everybody else have to say? Let’s let Fin Fang Doom weigh in first:

“I haven’t read a MAX comic since Supreme Power dropped from the mature line and faded into obscurity a few years back. I remember thinking at the time that Supreme Power didn’t need the curse words and boobies to tell its story, but considering how Squadron Supreme has completely fallen off the radar since become more kid-friendly, maybe I was wrong. Being part of the MAX line made Supreme Power a big fish in a very, very small pond. Even if it didn’t make the stories better, it made them different.

And that’s the reason I really enjoyed Foolkiller #1: it was different. All the blood and gore and violence didn’t make it better than other comics; it made it different than other comics, and that’s what made it better.

I was thoroughly impressed by the creative team on the book. It looks like novel writer Gregg Hurwitz, unlike such luminaries as Jodi Picoult and Tad Williams, may be one of those writers who can be good at writing in more than one medium. Making the lead character someone other than the title character was a great idea. It’s hard to sympathize with someone who kills people all the time without remorse. That’s why I’ve never really liked the Punisher as a lead character, although he’s incredibly fun as a supporting player. I know I’ve read something drawn by Lan Medina before, but I can’t remember what it was. That’s a shame, because his artwork is fantastic in this issue. I’m usually not a fan of pencils-to-color artwork, but it looks better here than anywhere else I remember seeing it.

I can say for the first time in a very, very long time that I really, really liked the week’s Book of Doom. I honestly can’t remember the last time, if ever, I started buying a series after giving it a try as a BoD. But I will definitely be buying the next issue of Foolkiller.”

Nice. Now let’s hand it over to Jim Doom to wrap it all up:

I come into this with no knowledge whatsoever of Foolkiller. It seems like The Punisher, only maybe with a little more quirky than macho. That’s fine with me.

The art was also interesting. A little stiff in places, but I liked the grays and the texturing.

Overall, it was a thumbs-up book for me that I’d really like to keep reading, but it was $3.99. I’m not going to keep reading it if I have to pay an extra dollar just for the thicker cardboard cover. Unless maybe Foolkiller goes after the jerk at Marvel who thinks it’s a good idea to regularly suck another dollar out of all the comic buyers of the world.