Because it’s Passover and Easter this week, we’ll hold back on the Nazi punching. For now. But make no mistake, we’re a pro Nazi decking outlet. Which makes us very excited for the release next week of gritty historical fiction comic We Only Kill Each Other in collected edition format.
Co-created by rising writing star Stephanie Phillips (Harley Quinn, A Man Among Ye) and artist Peter Krause (Irredeemable, The Power of Shazam!), the comiXology Originals miniseries originally released as five single issues, starting in November 2021. We Only Kill Each Other was a digital exclusive then, but thanks to the partnership between comiXology and Dark Horse Books, it’s coming to print in its entirety as of Tuesday, 19 April.
We Only Kill Each Other is something refreshing. It effortlessly bridges past and present to feel topical, and it’s simultaneously thought-provoking without feeling heavy-handed.
Inspired by real-life events, and featuring historical figures, We Only Kill Each Other is set in New York City in 1938. War in Europe seems inevitable, but the big question is what side the United States will take? Stirring up pro-Nazi sentiment – and a hefty amount of anti-Semitic scapegoating – is fascist Fritz Julius Kuhn, the “American Führer.” In a nation divided (sound familiar?), American authorities can’t take a stand officially, but they can pressure rival Jewish-American gangsters, hot-headed upstart Jonas Kaminsky, and veteran mob boss Levi Solomon, to work together to undermine the Nazis.
Phillips and Krause – supported by colourist Ellie Wright, letterer Troy Peteri and cover artist Dave Johnson – are a dream team on this kind of book, which feels destined for a TV series adaptation (I mean, I would watch the hell out of it).
Phillips has already proved with The Butcher of Paris and A Man Among Ye (our review) that she has a special talent for creating engaging crowd-pleasers against the canvas of the past. Meanwhile, Krause leans into a Golden Age comics style the same way he did with Archie 1941, making We Only Kill Each Other feel like a product of the period it’s set in. Broad-shouldered, square jawed Jonas definitely has some classic Superman styling.
There’s little you can fault We Only Kill Each Other on, really. If the story arc was longer, things could have been fleshed out more, but such is the nature of contemporary comics – and at least the narrative never feels rushed. Mostly, it would have been gratifying to see Jonas and Levi mobilise their men to frustrate and thwart the fascist machine, even if just in a single-page montage.
As it is, the series keeps a tight focus on its two mobster leads. There’s an entertaining The Color of Money-esque age-gap dynamic between Jonas, who is quick to anger, and has a chip on his shoulder because of his Jewish background; and cool-headed, devout Solomon, who is nonetheless extremely dangerous. We Only Kill Each Other makes a point that inter-generational conflict is nothing new, despite all the Boomer-vs-Millennial sniping in the headlines today.
In fact, the series does an excellent job of spotlighting timeless issues in general. Jonas is in the primary protagonist of We Only Kill Each Other, and it’s through his inner monologue, captioned over the ongoing action, that readers are presented with various themes to contemplate: the multi-shaded, shifting reality of good and evil; the nature of hate as a motivator; plus the internalised self-destruction that often sets in when you’re reduced to nothing more than a derogatory label.
This relevance ensures We Only Kill Each Other lingers in the memory long after you’ve reached the final page. Although, the Nazi fisticuffs doesn’t hurt either.
You can find We Only Kill Each Other online right now in single issue format on the Amazon Kindle Store. Members of Amazon Prime, Kindle Unlimited, and comiXology Unlimited, can read it at no additional cost. As for the physical collected edition out 19 April, it’s currently available for pre-order on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and at your local comic shop and bookstore.