The Great British Bump-Off: Kill or Be Quilt Is a Criminally Well-Crafted Return (Review)

In 2023, Jon Allison and Max Sarin, the writer/artist duo behind the beloved comics series Giant Days, reunited for The Great British Bump-Off miniseries, combining two beloved U.K. entertainment institutions: the wholesome competition series The Great British Bake Off and the cozy mystery subgenre of investigative procedurals. The series introduced the charming and enthusiastic protagonist, Shauna Wickle, as she solved the poisoning of a contestant within the tent of Britain’s highly esteemed baking show, making friends along the way. Now, Allison and Sarin, along with colorist Sammy Borras and letterer Jim Campbell, have brought Shauna back for another case in The Great British Bump-Off: Kill or Be Quilt #1 from Dark Horse Comics, and it’s everything anyone left wanting more of the original series, or those who missed the original series entirely, could have wanted.

Despite the new series keeping The Great British Bump-Off title, the plot does not involve Shauna returning to the famous tent, nor does the quilting reference in the subtitle imply that she has now involved herself in a crafting competition, thus avoiding two directions that would have turned the relatively grounded series into something more gimmicky. Instead, Kill or Be Quilt sees Shauna embarking on a relaxing vacation, drifting down Yorkshire’s canals in a boat she borrowed from her uncle. However, Shauna is a less adept shipman than a baker and soon finds herself run aground in a quaint town and working at a local crafts store to earn money for repairs. It’s all new friends and local color until the end of the issue hints at something nefarious afoot.

That Shauna is back for a second adventure in this sequel suggests that she could be the focus of a whole series of such mystery stories (if fans are lucky) that drop her into new locales with new casts of characters. Such episodic series live or die on the strength of their leads, and Shauna is up to that task, bursting with infectious curiosity, kindness, and competency. She’s hardly perfect, though, as her inability to pay attention to her uncle’s lessons on proper boat knots is what results in her becoming stranded on vacation in the first place but even the new characters she meets quickly recognize her good nature and dependability, which only corroborates what readers of know of her.

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We know much about Shauna and the supporting cast around her through Sarin’s artwork. Characters are exceedingly expressive, both in their faces – eyes as cartoonishly wide with excitement as they are narrowed with suspicion, smiles wide, and frowns deep – and body language, along with character design. A panel of sunny Shauna leaning over the store’s counter to shake hands with the dark-haired and similarly-dressed owner Daphne, slanting back slightly, tells readers everything they need to know about Shauna’s earnest eagerness and how it contrasts with Daphne’s skeptical reserve. That page also includes a moment where the comic breaks from realism to depict emotional truth as Shauna begins melting while filling in Daphne on her desperate situation, with a similar technique employed for other moments of intense emotion or flights of imagination throughout the story.

There’s a warm, joyous energy crackling beneath the surface of The Great British Bump-Off: Kill or Be Quilt #1. It’s welcoming and possibly even wholesome, but without feeling childishly twee. The Great British Bump-Off is in fine form in the first issue of its return and is as inviting to new readers as it is to those anticipating its comeback since the final issue of the first series. With its confident pacing – the first issue introduces the cast of characters before hinting in the mystery to come, with the energetic cartooning ensuring it all still feels vibrant and entertaining throughout – Kill or Be Quilt #1 is a finely crafted comic that’ll have readers yearning for more.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Published by Dark Horse Comics

On April 9, 2025

Written by John Allison

Art by Max Sarin

Colorsby Sammy Borras

Letters by Jim Campbell