In this review of Pop Kill #1, readers see an inside look into the tumultuously dangerous business that is the Cola Wars.
Pop Kill #1
Writers: Dave Johnson and Jimmy Palmiotti
Artist: Juan Santacruz
Main Cover: Dave Johnson
Variant Covers: Dan Panosian, Brian Stelfreeze, Amanda Conner
Page Count: 32 Pages
Release Date: February 26, 2025
Previously Kickstarter backed, Pop Kill comes to Mad Cave Studios with this debut reissue. However, what had a promising role-out has turned into a rather disappointing first go-round. The pacing and tone never quite seem to mesh. While having a big name like Jimmy Palmiotti attached may have been a draw initially, the lackluster quality of the interior makes this book less pop-tastic and more fizzled out.
Jon Pyle is a contractor who excels in corporate espionage and sabotage. He’s hired by and indebted to Fizz One’s CEO Goro to destroy his competition (and brother) Kaito’s Popso Furious. A series of hits leads Pyle to Dina Deluxe, a soda engineer who has apparently developed a formula that exponentially increases the carbonation in a drink. Goro hires Pyle to prevent the formula from getting into his brother’s hand by any means necessary.
What follows is a romp as Pyle socially engineers and infiltrates Deluxe’s life, driving her to work in time for her presentation with Kaito. However, Goro isn’t the only competition in town, as a mysterious third party takes interest in Deluxe’s discoveries. Pyle and Deluxe reconvene, and a relieved Deluxe invites him home for a dinner date, where a bug has mysteriously been planted in her apartment.
Pop Kill #1 is a comic which while compelling in premise is far duller in execution. A comic exploring the cutthroat world of corporate espionage and the anxieties of capitalist warfare could make for gripping drama and stunning visuals. Unfortunately, this issue fails to deliver on that promise. Clearly, Johnson and Palmiotti are huge fans of Howard Chaykin, but the series reads as imitation rather than homage. Jon Pyle has a similar double entendre affectation in his dialogue, all of the characters read as either violent, stupid or misogynistic, and the action and scenarios wouldn’t feel out of place in cheap men’s adventure sweat-mags rather than anywhere in reality.
And there’s just so much talking…
The art too shares more than a passing resemblance to Chaykin. Several characters, Pyle included, are drawn with similar facial structures and expressions. Figures are built competently and action is readable. However, the book lacks a visual panache and energy. Panels rarely deviate from medium shots, never tilting above or below a 30 degree threshold. Figures are blocked in samey, foreground-middleground-background positions. Most of the action is relegated to the front half of the book, with the rest being rather flat dialogue sequences. What is delivered is an acceptable, mainstream looking comic that fails to sell the zaniness of the narrative.
The few highlights are when the book goes off the rails into pure sleaze, like when Pyle jumps out from under a heap of naked women, or the topless introduction of Dina Deluxe. None of the violence never quite meets the grindhouse levels of the book’s titillation, save when Pyle uses a cola can as suppressor (the execution of which, of course, is off panel). The book lacks a pizazz that it promised by the premise and the cover art. It lacks any sense of visual style, and the humor and writing don’t make up for it.
Pop Kill #1 offers little in both style and substance. It’s a comic that at once thinks it’s smarter than it is yet not nearly as senseless as it desperately needs to be. Its influences are obvious, leaning on imitation. The content fails to deliver on the edge promised by the premise. Pop Kill is less refreshing as it leaves a bitter aftertaste.
