Quarter Killer was released on April 8, 2020. — **Quarter Killer** was released on April 8, 2020.

By Zack Quaintance — Quarter Killer is now my third experience with a book from ComiXology Originals, the content publishing arm of the industry’s dominant digital comics platform. I’ve enjoyed both of the other series from the imprint quite a bit — those being The Black Ghost and Afterlift — and as a result, I came into this one with relatively high expectations. Those expectations, friends, were not just met — they were wildly exceeded.

Put simply, Quarter Killer is one of the best cyberpunk comics I’ve ever read. This really shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. The book has a powerful creative pedigree, featuring the writing team of Vita Ayala and Danny Lore (James Bond) and letterer Ryan Ferrier. Coming into this comic, I was unfamiliar with artist Jamie Jones, but his vintage hip hop-influenced cartooning style won me over immediately. Anyway, all of that is to say that the creative team is great.

Also great? The concept. Quarter Killer is not just a cyberpunk story; it’s also a cyberpunk story that reflects our times in ways that other entries in the genre have not. The group of protagonist is diverse, and the problems they face are timely as all get out. At its heart, Quarter Killer is really the story of a family — both given and chosen — trying to make a difference in an altered New York City, rich with hip hop and gamer culture.

This story uses its stylish lens to tackle serious issues too, ranging from housing owners callously exploiting tenants to legislation that grants corporations the same rights as human beings. The world-building is effective, using gaming-influenced slang to create a coherent sense of place (“level grinding” or “things go glitch”), and the structure is both holistic and episodic, like many of the best comics today. Each chapter of this story is in service of a larger arc, while very much being its own damn thing, complete with mix-tape track names styled after songs by the Wu Tang Clan. There are some insider New York jokes too, my favorite being a throwaway note that Staten Island moved to become its own city-state and nobody anywhere fought that. Hilarious.

The visual and conceptually storytelling is also top-notch. I really loved how the character of Hi-Top provided such consistent comic relief without ever punching down. Another highlight for me was a sequence that interspersed laser sword battling with a really smart and well-done series of political discourse related to granting corporations the same rights as people, even going so far as to air and address the arguments politicians in favor of that often trot out. Ridiculous as those arguments may be, it gave this story a sense of reality to have them entered here, really upping the tension.

Overall: Quarter Killer is the best ComiXology Original story yet, one that feels smart, stylish, and effortlessly intricate in the world that it builds. It gets my full recommendation for any readers interested in cyberpunk, videogames, political discourse, or great character-driven stories. 9.0/10

Quarter Killer
Writers: Vita Ayala & Danny Lore
Artist: Jamie Jones
Letterer: Ryan Ferrier
Editor: Adrienne Lopes
Publisher: ComiXology Originals
It all starts with a girl, armed with a handful of quarters, looking for a legend. Young Aya begs the infamous Quarter Killer to help rescue her father--a company hacker himself--from men who are forcing him back into crime. Quarter Killer--so named because they will only accept the ol skool quarters--surprises everyone when they choose to do the job for free. And so begins a game starring our hip-hop inspired Robin Hood and their crew. Confronting everything from addictive video games in the projects to shady corporations in casinos, QK and co are more than just a specialized team of experts--they are a family.
Release Date: April 8, 2020

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Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as Comics Bookcase.