Review – The Cull #1 (Image Comics)

Publisher: Image Comics
Writer: Kelly Thompson
Artwork: Mattia De Iulis
Lettering: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Release Date: 16th August 2023

On sale next week from Image Comics, The Cull is a sci-fi fantasy adventure series from the creative trio of Kelly Thompson, Mattia De Iulis and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou. This first issue introduces us to a group of five friends who make their way to a local forbidden rock to shoot a short movie, only to find themselves drawn into a shocking situation that none of them – bar one – could ever have expected.

I’m a huge fan of Thomson’s narrative approach here, where she drip-feeds the reader with plot points and character information rather than slapping them in the face with a massive, unwieldy exposition dump. And this first issue is all about character, presenting us with a shocking situation before rewinding twelve hours into the past and letting us get to know the people involved a little better. Each of the five friends is intriguing in their own way, with Cleo – the mastermind of the operation – definitely standing out with her tumultuous past and possibly dishonest motivations.

Full disclosure, De Iulis’ visual approach isn’t exactly the kind of art I tend to gravitate towards, but boy does it do the job here. Each character is painstakingly illustrated in a near-photorealistic style, adding a fantastic amount of depth and humanity to the proceedings as we meet our cast over the course of this first issue. It also doesn’t hurt matters that the two brief glimpses we’re given of the more fantastical side of the story – one of which you can feast your eyes on below – are nothing short of stunning, with a mesmerising, almost surrealist beauty to them. I simply cannot wait to see more of this in the issues to come.

This could probably be called a slow-burner of a first issue, but Thomson and De Iulis don’t waste a single panel along the way, introducing us to a relatable group of friends, each with their own drama, quirks and trauma, and slotting them into a shockingly unexpected situation. With Thompson continuing to go from strength to strength as a writer and De Iulis delivering a striking visual style, The Cull has the potential to be the next big hit from Image Comics, and is a new series you really owe it to yourself to pick up.

Rating: 4.5/5.

[PREVIEW ARTWORK – CLICK TO ENLARGE]