KILL OR BE KILLED: New Issue Out Today, Final Issue Out in June.

Image Comics' June solicitations evidently came out over the weekend, and -- as Kevin Sels points out on Twitter -- Sean Phillips reposted the relevant info for Kill Or Be Killed, his latest collaboration with Ed Brubaker.

(I thought I had searched for the solicits earlier this week and came up empty-handed, but evidently not.)

The big news is that issue #20, due June 27, is described as the "grand finale" to the entire, ongoing series, and it promises to contain "all the answers" to the book's most pressing questions:

Will Dylan find a way to live his secret life as a vigilante, or will he throw away the mask? And was there ever really a demon, or is he just crazy? And will he (or any of us) get out alive?

On the official Twitter feed for The Undertow Podcast, Robert points out that the series' final cover is an impressive homage or allusion to John Romita Sr.'s famous cover for The Amazing Spider-Man #50, the fifty(-one)-year-old story, "Spider-Man No More!"

The series' impending end was recently announced in a January interview with Phillips and then confirmed by Brubaker in the back pages of February's issue #16, and this still seems sudden.   I was expecting a "final arc" leading up to this concluding issue, and it may be worthwhile to look back at how the end to other recent books were announced, specifically Fatale and The Fade Out.

We're curious how the story ends, and we may not be the only ones.  Despite joking, "They all live happily ever after!" Phillips consoles fan Fee McBee, whose Twitter feed is worth a follow.

"It’ll be fine. Probably. I’ve no idea how it ends."

Replying to one of many laments for the series' end, Phillips hints at the upcoming schedule, writing, "We’ll be back with something new in October."

In the meantime, we have a new issue of KOBK reaching stores today, following a the release of a three-page preview online.   It's available in a standard cover, shown above, AND in the striking virgin wraparound cover announced in February.

Oblivious to the trouble that's heading his way, seen in last month's cliffhanger ending(s), Dylan's getting ready to mete out justice to "Perry the orderly," this time trading his menacing ski mask for a warm cardigan.

Kill Or Be Killed #17 is out today, with the concluding issue #20 just three months out.

Undertow Podcast 21 on Kill Or Be Killed 16.

A new episode of The Undertow Podcast was released this weekend:  in episode 21, Robert and I focused on the latest issue of Kill Or Be Killed -- namely, issue 16, released this past Valentine's Day shortly after Undertow episode 20.

As always, Robert and I had a blast recording the episode, and listeners can find the podcast on iTunes and at Podbean.

At the end of the episode, we both had a few musical recommendations, with Robert recommending Bruce Springsteen's understated 1982 album Nebraska as I focused on The Breeder's hit album from 1993, Last Splash.

I loved the Last Splash singles when I first heard them in high school, but I didn't "get" the album when I got the CD from a used bookstore.  I finally connected with the deep cuts -- understanding the album as a whole, and falling head over heels -- last year, when my high-school reunion prompted a review of all my old music from the 90's.

I since found more obscure songs on YouTube and tracked down an import copy of the album's 20th anniversary 3-disc rerelease ("LSXX"), for which the Last Splash lineup reunited in 2013.  That lineup has released a new album this month -- their first since Last Splash, and the first for the Kim Deal-led band in ten years -- and All Nerve is really, really good.

(My favorite track is one I hope gets some play at baseball stadiums this year, ironically or otherwise:  SPACEWOMAN.)

I mention that, like another upcoming recommendation, The Breeders' Last Splash-era music rewards listening at multiple levels:  the singles are perfect gems of pop music, the album has a great groove blending punk and surf music, and the rare tracks include some great covers, including songs from The Who, Aerosmith, and (in a live version of a track from their debut Pod) The Beatles.

A few B-sides have their English bassist Josephine Wiggs singing lead vocals, and that's just about the only proper preparation one can have for the All Nerve track MetaGoth.

And any fan of Last Splash simply must check out All Nerve.

For our listeners who may not be all that familiar with The Breeders, here are the music videos from the Last Splash era, including songs (and versions) that can still ALL be found on LSXX.

 

• "Cannonball," their first single from Last Splash and their biggest hit, reaching #2 on Billboard's Hot Modern Rock Tracks in the U.S.
• "Divine Hammer," the single version
• "Saints," another single version, released in the subsequent Head to Toe EP
• "Safari," the title track from the Safari EP, released the year before Last Splash, with a guitar solo by Tanya Donelly, who would soon lead the band Belly
• "Shocker in Gloomtown," also from 1994's Head To Toe, a cover of a short, fast song by the obscure but prolific band Guided by Voices, another band hailing from Dayton, Ohio.

I warn you, these songs have a way of getting stuck in one's head.

May Solicitations, Other Phillips Projects, and a Behind-the-Scenes Video!

Kill Or Be Killed #16 came out two weeks ago, and in the back pages Ed Brubaker confirmed what Sean Phillips had previously mentioned in a video interview, describing the team's upcoming schedule in very broad strokes.

Mentioning that the team starts a new project every year or two, Brubaker confirmed that KOBK "does have an ending coming up," and he wrote that -- "right now" -- the team is working on an even shorter project, a "novella OGN" (original graphic novel) to be released later this year.

We were wondering if this year's Image Expo might shed some more light on at least one of the upcoming projects from Brubaker & Phillips, but evidently not.  Instead, all of last week's news was to be found in the May solicitations.

First up is Kill Or Be Killed #19, described as the fourth arc's finale and featuring rather psychedelic colors in Sean Phillips' cover portraying Dylan, still institutionalized but wielding deadly force.

We're also surprised to see Sean Phillips' name in the list of credits for Where We Live, a 256-page anthology about last year's mass shooting in Las Vegas.  All the creators donated their time and effort to the book, and all proceeds are going to a fundraising campaign for survivors.

Both books are scheduled for a May 30th release.

We have some details on a few other projects for Phillips.  A few weeks back, we highlighted an interview where the artist mentioned research on World War I, and we guessed (wrongly) that it related to the upcoming graphic novella that Ed Brubaker is writing.  On Twitter, the great Kevin Sels filled us in on what the work is for, a collaboration with crime writer Ian Rankin for an anthology commemorating the centenary of the armistice that ended WWI.

(Thanks, Kevin!)

Here's how the official press release describes the book.

Traces of the Great War is an ambitious anthology of new illustrated short stories by internationally acclaimed comic book artists, graphic novelists and writers, all of which explore the continued relevance and resonance of the First World War and its aftermath in our lives today.

The book will debut in October, in England and in France -- in the former, at the Lakes International Comic Art Festival -- to be followed by touring exhibitions.

As this project was being discussed on social media, Sean Phillips elaborated that his contribution will be illustrating an eight-page story written by Rankin.

There's one more project we noticed over the last month, and we would be remiss not to mention Sean Phillips' latest contribution to film, creating the cover art for Arrow Academy's Blu-ray release of Smash Palace, a 1981 drama from New Zealand filmmaker Roger Donaldson.

Phillips posted some work-in-progress details online -- here, here, and here -- and Arrow Films has the completed cover, shown below.

We love seeing these pieces of work in-progress, but there's an even closer glimpse behind the scenes, in a rare video interview with Sean Phillips, at his home studio.

Just last week, the Japanese tech company Wacom posted this "artist profile," in part to highlight some of the tools he uses in his work.  The company specializes in graphics tablets, pens, and styluses, and -- quite justifiably -- they take great pride in the professionals who use their tools; the week prior, they posted a similar interview with Charlie Adlard.

Online, Phillips writes that the producers condensed "four hours of waffling" to produce this seven-minute video.  We see the artist work on the roommates' fight toward the end of KOBK #15 -- which probably places the interview around New Year's -- and walk through various files for another cover for Arrow Academy, The Hired Hand, a 1971 Western and directorial debut by Peter Fonda.

We see just how much Sean Phillips still uses a traditional approach even with the latest tools -- starting with a physical sketchbook and even using blue coloring for the page's initial sketches and reference images -- and Phillips showcases his favorite part of the job, the inexhaustible work of drawing people.  We see the emphasis not just on drawing, but on storytelling, as Phillips walks us through the books in his library and a few of the artists he loves.

It's great stuff and a must-watch for fans.