killadelphia vol 1 sins of the father rodney barnes

The Jr never had a good relationship with his father and feels weird going back to where his life started and his bad relationship with his father lay. Full of sex, blood, and National Treasure levels of audacious nonsense (turns out everyone’s searching for a book of vampire secrets), this smart, stylish thrill ride runs on enough social relevance to appeal to an audience outside of gore hounds. This book follows James Sangster Jr after the death of his father who was a detective in Philly and was killed on assignment. Alexander’s hyperrealistic, heavily photo-referenced art creates an appropriately dark atmosphere, spattering dynamic fight scenes across rain-drenched streets and shadowy housing projects.

Writer Barnes has a TV background ( Runaways, American Gods), so it’s not surprising the pacing mimics bingeworthy shows, plunging into action with little background explanation and never slowing down. In this modern gothic cityscape, Black vampires ambush corrupt cops, street-level vamps say things like “gimme another hit of that blood, kid,” and the conspiracy goes all the way to the top and a conniving undead president. Soon he’s at the center of an all-out war as competing factions of the undead battle for control of the city and the nation. The Harper-published novel tells the provocative story of a young white chauffeur and his wealthy Black employer, a professional basketball player a discomfiting portrait of envy and obsession. Philadelphia police detective Jimmy Sangster revives a case abandoned by his late father and winds up on the trail of a vast, centuries-old vampire underworld. When a small town beat cop comes hometo bury his murdered father-the revered Philadelphia. Fast-paced, violent, and not afraid to get a little goofy, this supernatural thriller works as a blood-drenched horror comic and as timely advocacy around Black lives and police violence. Marvels Runaways, and Starzs American Gods-RODNEYBARNES.

Killadelphia vol 1 sins of the father rodney barnes