You’ve Been Cancelled #1 Review: Getting Cancelled Has a New and Deadly Meaning

You’ve Been Cancelled #1 Review: Getting Cancelled Has a New and Deadly Meaning

You’ve Been Cancelled #1 Review
Writer: Curt Pires
Artist: Kevin Castaniero
Colorist: Jason Wordie
Letters: Micah Myers 
Editor: James B. Emmett
Publisher: Mad Cave Studios 

You’ve Been Cancelled paints a very real and scary picture of a world in the near future where getting cancelled has some deadly consequences. A world that is already shattered to ends that seem unrepairable and society has taken it one step further by glorifying and live-streaming the public purge-like execution of someone who has been publicly cancelled and found guilty. 

This isn’t a free for all with villagers and pitchforks, there are dedicated mercenaries that do this for sport and bounty. This is where things get tricky as we follow Roland, the best of the best and what ensues is a gladiator meets Mad Max ride that is pure bloodshed and adrenaline and will leave you craving more when you flip the final page. 

Pires does a phenomenal job of taking the fuckery that we have been subjected to on social media and twisting it into a tale of the ultimate punishment. This applies to people of any status that make us cringe every time we are brave enough to open social media. The world is extreme but oddly relatable and filled with an ensemble of characters that even with the shortest of introductions make you feel something, even if just a laugh. It takes just a few panels to understand the severity of these punishments and the ultimate bloodshed that ensues. 

This issue takes it one step further as Castaniero and Wordie collaborate together to give us a devastating picture of the world we are entering. The combination of line work and colors make it seem soft and fun at the same time and waters down the maturity of the story. Myers always seems to impress with the lettering as the balance of the story and the vast world we are diving into is made digestible by silky smooth lettering. Even in panels with many different things going on, Myers finds a way to let it shine while still delivering at the highest of tiers. 

This is a perfect entry into a series that is filled with intrigue and oozes bloodthirsty action. It may seem like a fast-paced issue, but never seems to leave the reader behind and buckles us in before pushing the pedal into the crazy world of cancel culture and Roland’s role in this world while opening the story further with the final panels. It will undoubtedly be a series that will be in your local comic shops’ pull box from beginning to end. 

You’ve Been Cancelled #1 will be available at your favorite local comic shop or digitally at Mad Cave’s official site on June 7, 2023.