Review - The Killer: Modus Vivendi #1

Sometimes a comic can peg a guy so perfectly it's often freaky when they manage to do it. Well it looks like Archaia Comics has done just that with their comic The Killer Modus Vivendi #1 that details what would go down when a retired hitman comes back on the job with a whole new set of shit happening. I really enjoyed reading this comic as it had a mixture of the Hitman video game and a little Sam Fischer put together in an awesome main character that doesn’t have to force the story forward. It progresses naturally and with a good flow of story, a bit of action and a sort of inner monologue type and does it as if with ease.

Apparently for this hitman four years of retirement was too long for a man of his caliber to take off from what he does best (basically being a badass), meaning he gets back into the assassination game. For some reason before he guns his first hit down he has a little flashback to about two months ago while he was still retired. I know if I was retired there I wouldn’t be leaving for a damn thing as the man clearly had it all, with a wife and child, but it seems dull just wasn’t who he was supposed to be. Calling a buddy of his named Mariano got him back into the life and also revealed why he went back, as he had no reason to do stay retired or to even take the job for that matter.

Back in the present day he has his sights trained on the target telling the guy that he was paid to be there and kill him as the target attempts to buy the hitman off getting of course turned down. The Killer really does a number on this guy as he plots it as a murder suicide with the wife dead there. He always lived by a code of not doing any jobs to close to his home country Venezuela and of course the next target on the list was in Venezuela, meaning he had to do it with the utmost care.

It’s a pretty ingenious plan the Killer comes up with as he knows the target always rides a scooter around the city making him an easy kill by using simply a car to get the job done. It’s simple, minimizes exposure and the fact that it can be chalked up to an accident if he is caught makes it the best plan to do and thought it was a great idea. Sometimes the easiest way is the best way as you can’t do better than that as at the perfect time the Killer mows down the target on the scooter sending him flying.

What sort of target could draw that certain reaction from a hardened killer is none other than a nun. A nun over in Colombia this time that does all the things you would expect a nun to do such as hand out food, help the poor and sick and now she’s a name on a hit list. It throws the Killer into a period of reflection about God and all the things done in his name with the killings and makes him take a look at what she could of did to cause this to happen. Going so far as to delay killing her so that he can figure out what could the connection be between this nun and the other two targets. He meets with Mariano to get some more information about the targets and to share his thoughts about the whole situation.

Turns out the nun he is supposed to kill is a pretty famous name among Latin America and to kill her would be bad news all around, the pair head to go talk to the big boss to find out more information about the clients and targets. The two realize the larger link between the three clients, making them into something larger than originally thought. Mariano and the Killer go to find the hit-issuing pair and get some more information about what the hell is going on. They roll by their house only to find both dead and no more questions are raised about what they’ve gotten into.

We end the comic with little more self-reflection on the part of the Killer as he describes the ways people act about life and hold onto what seems like the littlest things. He realizes he has become one of those people as he has something to live for and hold onto in the form of his separated wife and child. Knowing that he would do what it takes to keep them safe and not let anything stop him from doing just that. That's some real character there as it shows how even a hitman can show heart and a soft spot for what may be right.

I really did enjoy reading this issue and look forward to what is coming for the Killer and will he be able to keep it all together. Love the balance it packs in each page, with not really over the top blood and gore but enough to fit and intensify what’s going on and keep the story engaging.

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