Advance Review: ‘You’ll Do Bad Things’ #1 Needs A Stronger Plot

The Godfather author Mario Puzo lamented late in his life that all his audience wanted to read from him was books about the mafia. It’s understandable, really. Who wants to read a Stephen King romance book?

While most writers don’t want to be boxed into a single genre or topic, oftentimes the popular ones find themselves victims of their own success. So it’s no surprise that the fictional author in You’ll Do Bad Things is struggling with his follow-up novel. A decade ago, Seth Holms hit the big time with his true-crime thriller He Came In With a Smile, a story about child murders.

Now he wants to turn the page and write romance. There’s just one problem: every time he gets a few pages in he ends up writing about a gruesome murder. He can’t help himself. It’s not what he wants to turn in, but his editor is getting impatient.

There isn’t much more to this first of six issues than that. Ultimately, there’s not enough here to keep readers engaged unless they want to see more blood and guts. Writer Tyler Boss fails to present an amount of clues as to what is really happening with Seth to entice his audience to return in a month. This is likely a case where a double-sized premiere issue would have given the writer enough time to leave some tantalizing breadcrumbs.

Artist Adriano Turtulici’s clever use of colors is a high point in the book. His linework is relatively simple, but the use of just one or two colors per panel gives the series a distinct look while ratcheting up the tension. It’s amazing how Turtulici’s practically forces the readers’ eyes to go exactly where he wants them.

Boss is an accomplished writer (and artist as well), so it’s likely the issues with the story will be resolved soon. Frankly, they need to be if You’ll Do Bad Things is to find a measure of success.

You’ll Do Bad Things #1 will be available at comic book shops on Wednesday, March 26th, 2025, from Image Comics.