Stray Bullets Vol. 6 – Killers (2014) 🕵️♂️💥
Genre
Crime Noir • Psychological Thriller • Drama
Stray Bullets Vol. 6 – Killers is a gripping blend of gritty crime noir and emotionally intense drama. With its grounded characters, morally grey decisions, and sudden bursts of violence, the volume delves into the darker sides of human nature and the haunting consequences of past trauma.
Main Characters
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Virginia Applejack 🖤 – A complex, hardened teenager with a traumatic past. Her sharp instincts and resilience hide years of emotional damage.
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Eli Goldburg 🎭 – Quiet and thoughtful, Eli is drawn to Virginia by fate and shared tragedy. His journey explores loyalty, loss, and violent redemption.
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Spanish Scott 🧨 – A notorious hitman who looms like a shadow across many of the stories, influencing events even when off-panel.
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Rose 🍼 – A seemingly innocent babysitter caught in a psychological game that spirals into chaos.
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Lloyd 🚬 – A misguided young man who tries to help his cousin but ends up going down a blood-soaked path.
Writer
David Lapham – An Eisner Award-winning creator, Lapham is both the heart and the architect of the Stray Bullets universe. Known for his raw, character-centric storytelling, Lapham brings depth and nuance to every scene, capturing the emotional devastation behind every act of violence.
Artist
David Lapham – As both writer and illustrator, Lapham’s unique style adds a stark, almost haunting realism to the world of Stray Bullets. His use of black-and-white panels emphasizes the emotional tension and grime-soaked aesthetic of the crime world.
Editor Details
Maria Lapham – Supporting the narrative vision with a keen editorial eye, Maria Lapham ensures the series maintains its raw emotional pacing and tight storytelling cohesion across the arc.
Publisher and Brand
Image Comics / El Capitan Books 🏷️
Stray Bullets Vol. 6 – Killers was published under the creator-owned imprint El Capitan Books, distributed through Image Comics — known for allowing creators full control over their stories and characters.
Release Year
📅 2014
Brief Plot Summary
In Killers, David Lapham crafts eight tightly-woven stories centered around crime, regret, and emotional wreckage. Each issue stands alone but threads into a larger tapestry that follows two haunted teenagers — Virginia and Eli — whose lives were forever changed by earlier encounters with Baltimore’s seedy underworld. Now in the quiet beach town of Sandcastle, their paths cross again as violence and tragedy ripple into their present lives. From a babysitting job that goes disturbingly wrong to a young man’s descent into becoming an unintentional killer, Killers captures the unpredictable chaos of life on the edge.
Notable Arcs or Storylines
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"Running Your Mouth" – A cautionary tale of a boy whose careless words bring deadly consequences.
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"The Babysitter Job" – A suspenseful psychological story where Rose discovers she's not just watching a child, but unknowingly babysitting danger itself.
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"City Visit Gone Wrong" – A young couple’s trip turns into a waking nightmare as they’re caught in a brutal gang war.
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"Lloyd’s Mistake" – A tale of misguided loyalty that ends in irreversible bloodshed, highlighting the thin line between help and harm.
Fan Theories or Interpretations
🧠💭
Some fans interpret Virginia and Eli as tragic soulmates — not romantically, but spiritually bonded by shared trauma. Others suggest that Virginia's tough persona is a constructed survival mechanism, theorizing that her cool exterior hides a deep yearning for innocence lost. There's also speculation that Spanish Scott represents a mythic-level figure in the series — a walking embodiment of violence and fate.
Review Summary
🎨✍️📖
Stray Bullets Vol. 6 – Killers is a masterclass in noir storytelling. David Lapham’s dual talent as both writer and artist creates a cohesive, emotionally intense world. The black-and-white art perfectly complements the bleak tone, and the characters — especially Virginia — are multi-layered and deeply human. Each story is brutal yet heartfelt, threading together a larger narrative about how the past never really lets go. It’s raw, real, and unforgettable.
⭐ Rating: 9/10 – A dark, compelling triumph of indie comics storytelling.
Comic Resource / Read Online (External Source)
