Support by buying at your local comic shop http://www.findacomicshop.com/ or purchase a digital copy.

• Price: $3.99
• Rated: 17+
• Pages: 28
• On Sale: July 18, 2018
• Writer: Sean Lewis
• Artist: Antonio Fuso
• Letterer: Dave Sharpe
• Publisher: Aftershock

From the Publisher – Like the demented stepchild of Game of Thrones, Braveheart and Mark Millar’s Kick Ass, Sean Lewis (BETROTHED, The Few, Coyotes) brings readers into an ancient Ireland filled with clans, mystics, warriors and monsters of mythic proportion! Finola has a problem—her father is losing his mind. All the old king cares about is power…and Finola thinks power is stupid. Finola thinks her vicious older sisters are stupid. Finola thinks the royal court is stupid, and above all she thinks the clans across the country are stupid. So she makes a plan with her good friend Cillian: Let’s kill all the clans. And then, we go for dad. Filled with countless twist and turns, CLANKILLERS promises to be a wild ride! From writer Sean Lewis (BETROTHED, The Few) and artist Antonio Fuso (James Bond, G.I.Joe) comes a revenge thriller that HAD to be told at AfterShock!

Our We Talk Comics WeView – I’ll be honest. When I saw the title as potential review material I was hoping for something a little different and more contemporary. When I realized the title was Clankillers and not Klan Killers, I had to wipe my preconceptions, especially since I was unfamiliar with both Lewis and Fuso’s previous works. The premise is very straight forward: Young Finola goes to summon Banshees where she promises she will kill the four clans of Ireland (one of which is lead by her father, the King) in exchange for the Banshees summoning the Goddess Balor. Finola wants Balor’s head as revenge against her for driving her father mad and taking her mother. While the premiere issue is a little uneven in it’s story telling it does establish the fantasy elements and characters while setting up the rest of the narrative fairly well.

In the first half of the issue, writer Sean Lewis does seem like he’s rushing to establish everything. At first it seemed like a nice change of pace with today’s lethargic “writing for the trade” mentality, but as it went on I wanted him to slow down a bit and spend more time with the characters than the exposition. Luckily he did just that for the second half of the issue, Once Finola goes searching for the Banshees in the bog and her father the King is searching the church for her, both the story and the characters take off. Without the over explaining, the surreal elements came off as more bizarre and the characters, became much more interesting. Dark humor crept in and was expertly delivered (the football sequence is both disgusting and simultaneously hilarious). Lewis does such a great job writing the second half of the issue, I was genuinely sad to see it end because it was just starting to hit a nice even stride.

Antonio Fuso’s style is solid but seems like many of other minimalists who are flooding the market lately (most of whom desperately want to be Chris Samnee). I would like to see something that would make his work stand out as unique. Don’t misunderstand, it is not bad or derivative of anyone else. In general, it just seems to have workhorse flavor. The art flows well, tells the story well, and compliments the writing. Fuso has a lot of potential to move beyond simply being a workhorse that can get it done. The scene between the King and the Cardinal is masterfully realized conveying both the humor and the chilling undercurrents present in the dialogue. It’s a simple sequence that really shows a flash of brilliance.

Overall it is an intriguing first issue that shows a great deal of potential even if it is a little uneven. The characters and premise well outweigh any flaws and if you enjoy historical fantasy this will be well work picking up.

Rating – Fine/Very Fine (F/VF) or 7.0/10

Review by Brett Harris

Love the review? Hate the review? Disagree with me? I’m happy to talk comics on twitter @BrettTHarris

Three great ways to subscribe to We Talk Comics now. Try us on iTunes. For those of you looking for an alternative we’re now available on Stitcher Radio. You can also check the show out on the versatile TuneIn radio.

And join the We Talk Conversation on Twitter @wetalkpodcasts. Plus give us a like now on Facebook. Interested in reviewing, let us know!