A Gorgeously Horrific Success: Reviewing ‘The Cull’ #1

Much like certain foods, hello chocolate and peanut butter, there are combinations of genres that are oh-so good together. A perfect example would be science fiction and horror, with a sprinkle of fantasy/adventure. All that other-worldly goodness wrapped up in a blanket of fear chock full of emotional character bits and pieces.

That’s just what we’re apparently getting with the new series, The Cull.

From Image Comics, the series is the creation of Kelly Thompson, Mattia De lulis, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou. If that trio of names doesn’t sell you on the concept instantly, you have some other reading to do with their names attached. Really that’s like a whole S’mores worth of creators. I won’t say who is which piece, but basically a bunch of great individuals coming together to be even sweeter than they were before.

A lot of food references so far. That might be a sign of something. Anyway, back to the issue at hand.

Right away, this is a gorgeous series. Of course, it is though, that’s what De lulis is known for. A huge dynamic super detailed style, that captures every bit of energy and emotion in a way that feels real. On any given page the panels will shift focus so that we’re not seeing the same thing or even the actual sequence of events. Yet, no matter what, there is always a true sense of movement where you feel like you went from A to B to C directly.

A ton of this issue is silent and it’s up to De lulis to set the mood and tone, and do the heavy lifting to make us know and care about these characters. Through Thompson’s script and De lulis execution of the artwork, we instantly can tell so much about each of the characters we’re introduced to. How they are feeling, what some of their life situations are, how they feel about others, and more. Each of them is truly unique both in substance but also appearance as the artwork takes the time to alter faces, heights, weights, skin tones, etc. to make it all accurate and diverse.

I really appreciate how well Otsmane-Elhaou always makes sure that the various lettering work is just so natural to the world. No matter the artist that he might be working with, the dialogue or SFX fits the style and stands out but also doesn’t stand out. By that, I mean SFX coming from an object or space that feels like it’s from that space. So, we notice it naturally but also do not fully put tons of thought into it notice it, much like how sounds work in real life.

I hear a door click as I close it. I’m not super thinking about it unless there is a reason to do so. In a few spaces of this issue, those times pop up. A phone pings or a door sound comes, and characters react and think about it much like we would when trying to be quiet. Therefore, our attention is also pulled to the sound/moment and the energy it brings.

There are two story choices that I want to point to right away as perfect choices. One has to do with the issue intro. We’re introduced to this black rock and its significance before we cut to the horrific tied to the rock that is still to come. This not only sets up the setting for the story but also dangles the horror to come before us so that we’re curious how it gets to that moment. Being a miniseries, we know that the moment is not far off so a tease like this will whet our appetite and not be dragged out.

Following that was the choice that was made to focus the entirety of the issue beyond that point on the characters. Thompson is a solid character writer; I would hold her run on Captain Marvel which recently ended as one of the best the character has ever had. Because of the depth it added to the character, bringing her to an interesting place, as well as the world-building that came from that depth. We feel that same energy here as I noted above, because we follow all these characters and learn so much about them. Often in short stories like this that are horrific, we don’t really learn a lot about characters before diving right into the deep end of the proverbial pool.

Here we know and can even potentially feel for these people before we find out what this other realm of horrors has in store for them. I’ve only seen them for one issue and already feel that I don’t want anything to happen to any of them. That’s the mark of solid character-building right there.

The Cull #1 is now available from Image Comics.