May 2008 | Boom!

Writing: Matt Forbeck
Art: Lads Helloven
Colour: Lads Helloven
Letters: Ed Dukeshire
Cover: Lads Heloven | Moritat

It’s the Bad Bay Hackers versus the Orcland Raiders in the ultimate grudge match. There’s more than just the game, to worry about, there’s an assassin on the Hacker’s team. In order for him to get a chance to take out his target, the Hackers must advance.

I’m a huge fan of Games Workshop and practically everything they produce. I remember playing the Blood Bowl game with friends over lunch breaks and while I’ve never been a fan of football, playing this violent strategic version was always great fun. It’s been years, though, since I’ve had anything to do with it. I had sold all my miniatures off a long time ago. Seeing this comic on the shelf, I thought I’d give it a go. It left me grinning.

The comic opens in the middle of a Blood Bowl game between the Bad Bay Hackers and Orcland Raiders with some wonderful violence and commentary.

What I love about this comic is how true it is to the game. It isn’t Blood Bowl without death, extreme violence, and some heads mistaken for footballs. It really brings back some fond memories. Matt Forbeck has done some great writing, especially with the commentary, and I like the care he’s taken to flesh out the world and place this sport in the fantasy setting where it lives. Thousands of spectators watching the game in their crystal balls, it’s just so creative, and the sponsors got a chuckle from me, too. It was a fun read.

Those undead teams get all the best players — eventually!

The messy style of art goes well with the brutality of the game and the gore is quite satisfying. With a cover like that, I was certain I’d be pleased with the interior.

All-in-all, this was entertaining — purely gratuitous, but entertaining. I’ll likely pick up more of this mostly to see what the next team like, but I must admit I am curious to know more about our killer’s contract.

Matt Forbeck (Writer) and Lads Helloven (Art and Colors)

Blood Bowl: Killer Contract #1 tells the story of the Bad Bay Hackers team and their game against the Orcland Raiders. What game you ask? Well it is sort of like football except there is a large amount of killing, maiming, and general chaos thanks to the inclusion of weapons, medieval style football pads, and a general disregard for any solid set of rules. It brings to mind the old Sega Genesis game Pigskin Footbrawl or even Mutant League Football from back in the day. Truth be told, the concept is a lot of fun and the brutality on display really is something to behold. However, the book is not without its shortcomings as it feels as though it tries to do too much within too few pages.

To be honest, I am still trying to sort out exactly what the focus of this comic even is. We have the football game going, some locker room assassination plot, a team relationship, some tension between the coach and the star, some daddy issues, and, to top it all off, some pretty ridiculous dialogue and action that does little to help make sense of it all. I wanted to sit back and enjoy the ride, but far too often I found myself going back over what I had already read because I lost track of what was going on. It just moves way too fast for its own good. Now, part of me understands why this is since this is only going to be a five issue mini-series, but pulling out a plot thread or two would have done wonders for both the pacing and flow of this story.

The writing by Matt Forbeck is admirable in the sense that he attempts to juggle all these plot elements in a little over twenty pages, but it never feels like he has any control over what is going on. I liked the clever names and the campy humor, but it needs more than that to tie everything together. Maybe those that have an interest in the tabletop game that this comic is based on will have a better understanding of the events, but, for me, this was a chore to read.

The artwork makes up for some of the books shortcomings, but it also suffers from a general lack of direction. I enjoy some full-blown chaos and this book puts it on display in quite an impressive fashion, but the actual game being played is just a mess. I assume that we are supposed to follow the game between the Hackers and the Raiders, but it is next to impossible. I know some people scored, but there was absolutely no flow to the action at hand. It felt like a bunch of cool scenes lumped together without any idea of where they fit in the overall scheme of things. It looks fun, and some of it genuinely is, but closer inspection will make you realize the less you scrutinize, the better. I like what is on display here, but it needs to be reeled in so that the action can unfold in a manner that compliments the game being played and the story being told.

Blood Bowl: Killer Contract is fun, but it really needs some structure and less chaos. The less you think about it, the better this book is. Check it out if you are interested in the concept, but make sure to shut your brain off before diving in. (Grade C-)

-Kyle Posluszny