Hellbreak #1
Written by Cullen Bunn
Art by Brian Churilla
Colors by Dave Stewart
Cover by Brian Churilla
Oni Press
Release Date: March 11, 2015
Cover Price: $1.00

“My boss went to Hell and all I got was a skinny half-naked dude.” That line pretty much sums up this comic. Combining a good deal of action and quite a few horrible creatures, Hellbreak #1 is a fast-paced read filled with twisted humor and dangerous travels. In short, it was a barrel of fun!

You probably recognize the names involved here. Cullen Bunn is famous for his kickass comic book The Sixth Gun, also available on Oni Press. He is also known for a little series he wrote that you may have heard of entitled Deadpool Kills The Marvel Universe. He also writes books. You know, books. Those things that are sort of like comics, but don’t have any pictures. He’s a busy man with big plans, so keep your eyes open for him.

Artist Brian Churilla is a master of the dark arts…wait, now he sounds like an evil mage. What I meant was that he is exceptionally talented at bringing monsters to life. No. I don’t think that sounds much better. How about this: he is a damn fine artist and he’s drawn some pretty wicked things over the years. If you haven’t seen his work in Big Trouble In Little China, you should.

With that little bit of fanboy love out of the way, let’s get to the real reason we are all here: bringing souls back from the afterlife. Sounds simple enough, yes? Well, apparently it’s not. It takes a massive amount of tech and the skilled soldiers of the Kerberos Initiative just to attempt it and they only really succeed about half the time. This is probably due to the fact that they are jumping into one of the infinite levels of Hell to do so. It’s a tough job and a rough ride, but these are trained professionals who only sometimes lose their cool and run like scared little children. I kid, I kid. EVERYONE wants to retreat, these folks just do it after they complete the mission.

The main focus of this premiere issue is to establish what it is that this group does. They transport in through a dimensional portal/rift/Stargate and find the missing person. Once they retrieve said individual, they reopen the doorway and jump back to Earth. Easy peasy. Except for the full body decontamination, pounding headaches, and whatnot. There are apparently teasers here for upcoming sub-plots, but right now it’s all about the team and how they work together. This premise is such that you could easily take it in any direction you want. But knowing how Bunn writes, it’s going to be one wild ride!

I had a chance to ask both Bunn and Churilla some questions about this series and it was quite enlightening. There are definitely big plans for this book and the characters therein. You’ll see these interviews soon enough, but for now I urge you to buy this first issue. It’ll hook you in the first few panels. It’s fun, dark and definitely mysterious. What more could you ask for?