Review by Ian Keogh

Originially published in Brazil, Danilo Beyruth’s stylish monster thriller has seen European publication, and now arrives in an English translation.

Helena hunts monsters that can pass for human and have no trouble adapting to urban living, picking off their victims in big cities. She’s introduced via a memorable opening sequence of her emerging from a full immersion mud bath of a type not found at spas.

Beyruth cultivates a moral ambiguity around Helena. Although she’s the primary character followed, and certainly deals with creatures you’d not want wandering the streets at night, there are hints she’s no protector of humanity, but of her own interests. Her proactive savagery is contrasted with the put-upon Alex, fast food employee who doesn’t stand up for himself as his colleague feels he ought to. He first encounters Helena as she barges past him on the hunt, but their paths are destined to cross again, and Alex being assertive for once discovers something about himself and Helena.

There are minor traces of Jaime Hernandez as an artistic influence when it comes to faces, but Beyruth’s efficient use of black ink is his own, creating an effective darkness in which his cast operates. That’s not to say he uses darkness to avoid drawing. Love Kills supplies page after page of urban views, so well drawn that they’ll make you reconsider the inner city. Beware, though, as he really lets loose when supplying the horrors, the level of savagery making this an adult pleasure. As seen on the sample page, Beyruth brings a new visual effect to comics, showing the blood circulating around the body as it’s perceived by creatures dependent on it.

Rather smartly, Beyruth never exactly defines what the monsters are, only that human blood is a fundamental requirement. He’s equally ambiguous when it comes to background and motivations, presenting a series of events and how they affect those concerned. The events are easily understood, and combine to form what surprisingly develops into an allegorical tale about the desperation of addiction. It’s a sideline, but it’s there.

An extended finale throws in a new threat slightly foreshadowed, but overall a step too far. Love Kills would have a stronger ending by restricting matters to what’s already been established and cutting twenty pages, but there’s some great art over that closing sequence, so complaints are muted. Savage urban horror is served up with emotional tragedy, and it’s surprising an English edition has taken so long.