Comic Book Review: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys #6

Back in June 2013, former My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way returned to the world of comics with ‘The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys’, a sequel to his band’s fourth and final studio album ‘Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys’. But now, after an extended period of time, the series has finally come to an end as the last issue hit the shelves of your local comic book shop this week.

Over the course of this book, the girl that the original Killjoys died to protect set out on a journey to avenge her fallen friends and stir up the mindless masses to rise against Better Living Industries and their soul sucking ways. There have been some heart-breaking casualties along the way, but the Girl has finally forged her own path and has made it to Battery City to make things right.

As a whole, the story was pretty straightforward and it was easy to see where the story was leading after the first few issues, but that doesn’t mean that it wasn’t an epic story. Way and co-writer Shaun Simon managed to present this grand battle on all fronts, while telling their own twist on a coming of age story. And just like the album that it was continuing, the story came fast and hard with constant action and interesting plot developments. In fact, I must have blazed right through the final issue so quickly because when I got near the end, I was surprised that I had so few pages left. But by the time I reached the final panel and the conclusion of the story, I found myself very satisfied with the culmination of all the action.

Going back to the interesting plot developments for a moment, I have to single out one of my favorite moments of issue six. When Korse went to face the head of BLI for a final showdown, that reveal of who was really behind all that suppression was such a cool twist. I’m sure that we could get into a deeply philosophical conversation about the symbolism behind that reveal, but I’ll save that for you guys to get into in the comments. In fact, there were a lot of themes and messages worth discussing in ‘Killjoys’, so even though the series has come to an end, fans should have plenty of fuel to keep the discussion going for months.

Another thing that I noticed throughout the series was that no panels were wasted and, by the end, every character had a conclusion. Sometimes when stories are this big, you end up not really having the best idea of where some characters end up, but in ‘Killjoys’, everything came to a nice and satisfying end that showed that violence isn’t always the answer. However, the finality of this story doesn’t mean that there isn’t room for a continuation. Simon and artist Becky Cloonan may or may not have hinted at talks of more Killjoys in the future while I spoke with them at last year’s NYCC, but even if those talks are happening, don’t expect them to come to fruition right away.

In conclusion, ‘The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys’ was an exciting combination of ‘American Graffiti’, ‘The Road Warrior’, and a My Chemical Romance record. It really speaks to a generation while providing an excellent bit of sci-fi without getting preachy. I certainly look forward to the next projects from this creative team as they are all superstars that are definitely going places.

Final Score: