KILLCHELLA #3, from Scout Comics on March 1st, 2023, amps up the chaos, the bloodshed, and the crazy as Blaire and her friends desperately look for a way to escape slaughter at the hands of Topanga’s acolytes.
The Details
- Written by: Mario Candelaria
- Art by: Lautaro Havlovich
- Colors by: Lesley Atlansky
- Letters by: Matt Krotzer
- Cover art by: Serg Acuña
- Comic Rating: Mature
- Cover price: $4.99
- Release date: March 1, 2023
Is It Good?
Whoa, Nelly! Topanga Cornell is kookoo bananas. If you get nothing else from this comic, please accept that the villain of this story is madder than a hatter on a sunny Sunday. Fortunately, there’s plenty to like about KILLCHELLA #3, so the villain’s insanity is icing on the cake.
When last we left Blaire and her friends, the private show in the desert turned into a blood-soaked, ritual mass murder. Now, it’s a fight for survival as anyone left alive desperately looks for a place to hide or a means to escape the locked-down concert venue, while Topanga Cornell’s greatest performance draws closer to an inevitable crescendo.
How’s that for wild insanity? With each issue, Candelaria’s story takes on greater shades of The Wicker Man and Midsommar as the survivors are drawn into a mass ritual of death that’s just getting started. I reference those films because they both succeed in putting the viewer on edge with little misalignments in normal behavior until the true nature of the villains comes crashing down on the innocents. Here, Candelaria beautifully replicates that buildup and tidal crash to draw you into an unsettling mix of horror and inescapable tragedy.
What’s worse (or better, if you prefer) is the final pages hinting at what’s to come in the next issue. If Candelaria continues to follow in the same vein as those previously referenced films, you can expect a very unhappy ending. By dropping that little tease, the growing sense of inescapable tragedy looms even larger and builds a massive amount of anticipation (or dread, if you prefer) for what’s to come.
Havlovich and Atlansky deliver an excellent set of art pages in this issue. Shallow millennials running around screaming and dying isn’t anything unique, but it’s the special attention paid to Topanga that elevates the tragic atmosphere. She’s human (or is she?), but in the close-up moments where another attendee is about to be killed, Topanga’s face retreats into shadow, giving her the look of a demonic predator. Her insanity manifests so clearly and frighteningly on her face you could easily believe there’s a dark supernatural force behind her lunacy.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at the covers, or Click Here to jump right to the story description with some spoilers.
What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
Check out our KILLCHELLA #2 review to find out what happened when Blaire and her friends entered the private concert.
We begin with chaos. Attendees run in all directions looking for a hiding place or an opening to escape the locked concert hall. Topanga Cornell’s masked acolytes butcher anyone they can catch, leaving bodies everywhere.
Soon, the venue goes still as anyone who managed to get outside races into the desert, miles from civilization. Inside, survivors look for hiding places to escape the acolytes’ blades of death.
We conclude the issue with Stella and Topanga having a one-on-one chat, the path to Summerland, and the promise of a hot finale.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at preview images of the internal pages, or Click Here to jump right to the score.
Final Thoughts
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KILLCHELLA #3 amps up the carnage and the crazy when the cult’s killer use of cutlery takes a catastrophic toll. The mesmerizing mix of horror and inescapable tragedy will have you on the edge of your seat, and the hint of worse things to come will keep you hooked.
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