Killadelphia #6 brings the first arc, “Sins Of The Father” to a close, tying up the John Adams story in a clean, efficient manner.
Tevin Thompkins AKA Seesaw, empowered by John Adams’ mysterious spell book destroys several members of Adams’ vampire army with magical attacks, gorgeously drawn by Jason Shawn Alexander. The mystical powers look celestial, albeit fittingly dark, and if Levantine Films (who recently acquired the rights to develop a Killadelphia adaptation) can translate the combat from the page to the screen, we’ll have a stunning horror TV series to enjoy.
After that, Seesaw goes with Sangster Sr., promising to kill John Adams, Sangser Jr. is deputized, and former first lady Abigail Adams tears the mayor of Philly’s throat out. A lot is thrown at you very quickly, and I’ll be damned if it isn’t a bloody good time.
Killadelphia #6: The End of the Beginning
I’m not going to act like it’s the most organic conclusion to arc one, but by nature Killadelphia is a pretty unusual blend of genres. The good news is that the series never embraced all of it’s unique influences so wholeheartedly before, and it’s never been this much fun. The newly minted Dr. Strange from the hood goes toe to toe with John Adams, and eventually his partner Sangster Sr. runs a sword through the vampiric president’s chest. Seesaw delivers a speech that is…frankly all over the place and bizarre. Somehow, in spite of that, his eclectic message still works within the confines of the story, and so it’s confusing nature is forgiven.
The vivacious monster Abigail Adams discovers that she has become a widow and promptly declares herself “founding mother of the new world,” without a hint of sorrow or remorse over her husband’s passing. This issue displayed how truly heartless, cold and ruthless Abigail is. She’s outshone her hubby since the beginning, and now the spotlight is completely hers. My biggest issue with “Sins Of The Father” is how uninteresting and bland John was, which makes me very excited to see where the story will take our brutal founding mother.
Afterwards, the Sangster’s reunite and dig up the senior’s coffin. They reminisce about the past, forgive each other, and share a tender hug before parting ways. Junior rides off into the sunset, promising to honor his father by defending his new city from the vampire scourge, and the credits roll. It’s a happy ending for everybody, and it’s satisfying, if a bit forced. I enjoyed “Sins Of The Father”, but not because of how good the plot is. The truth is, there’s plenty of stronger horror comics out there in terms of purely story. Killadelphia has an unique but underdeveloped plot.
RELATED: KILLADELPHIA #5 REVIEW: QUIRKY VAMPIRES AREN’T ENOUGH
The important thing to consider here is that there’s only so much depth and layering that you can cram in a 20-30 page comic book, even across six issues. An hour long format TV series can spend much more time world building and fleshing out the cast of characters, and that’s what excites me about this upcoming adaptation.
The series has good bones and incredible visuals, and it could evolve into something groundbreaking in a television format. I like Seesaw, the Sangster’s and most of the Killadelphia world, but I know I could grow to love them.
The Illuminerdi highly recommends picking up Killadelphia #6. Stay tuned for more Illuminerdi updates on the Killadelphia TV show, and for our review of issue #7 on August 26th, 2020.
KEEP READING: DC COMICS MAKES AN EXPLOSIVE MOVE AND CUTS TIES WITH DIAMOND DISTRIBUTORS
