Review by Ian Keogh

Being an exterminator in Sal’s world means dealing with far greater threats than insect or rodent infestations. This is a world where demons manifest, and exterminators face life and death situations every day. However, for all the danger, Mark Bouchard’s script takes events at face value, almost applying a documentary template as it follows Sal and his team around. The title comes from a line of dialogue, meaning the main action throughout is a rescue mission in addition to an extermination.

It’s a clever premise with a likeable cast. Despite putting their lives on the line, the exterminators are under the same pressures from their bosses as other working slobs, and Bouchard underlines their blue collar credentials throughout.

Bayleigh Underwood’s art is influenced by the detail applied to people in manga, but with fuller backgrounds and a great deal of personality to the cast. Given the premise has a comedy element, the exaggeration is well delivered, with Sal’s massive patterned sword a standout. Also extremely effective is the use of greytones for depth, and red colouring to indicate blood. There’s a lot of that during exterminations, not least on Sal’s jacket after It Took Luke opens with the brutal fight seen on the sample art.

Tension is key to any horror plot, and Bouchard supplies it through the rescue mission, knowing well enough that in places Underwood’s art will tell the story better than any words. Sal is revealed as a more complicated character than we might have suspected, and everything turns out all right in the end. Oh, hang on. No, it doesn’t. But the fun is had.