The Exterminators Vol. 1: Bug Brothers

Exterminator Henry James and his freakish supporting cast take on the cruel chaos of nature in the dirty corners of Los Angeles, but trouble ensues when they stumble upon a secret that could well reverse the positions of exterminator and pest.

Henry James takes advantage of his mom's new marriage to Nils Petterson to get his first postprison job with Petterson & Sons, exterminators. Two initial pages of watching roaches being roaches during Henry's own portentous voice-over ends with a plunge directly into his first workday with partner A. J. ("a loathsome little f--k," Henry says), during which Henry proves his mettle with the kind of sudden aggression he needed in the stir to eradicate a raccoon--with his bare hands. Not pretty. Nor is A. J.'s knife-throw dispatching of a humongous rat looming over a baby, which shortly precedes Henry's deed. Worse sights lie ahead as Henry gets into the work, Petterson's staff chemist discovers a mutant strain of roaches, and Henry's loyal girlfriend rises in her new corporate workplace. Oliver peppers a slowly unfolding horror plot with revolting humor, and Moore gives him the low-key looks of the sf-horror comedy film classic Repo Man to produce what looks like a comics classic in the making. Don't miss book 2. Ray Olson
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