They first announced this series in April 2016 at the Image Expo, which was held during the Emerald City Comic Con.

[6] The concept stemmed from Brubaker's effort to channel his feelings about the state of the world and take them to the extreme.

[1] He describes the story as Death Wish meets Breaking Bad with the adventure of The Amazing Spider-Man comics from the 1970s.

[7] Phillips chooses to be kept in the dark about the future of the series, never knowing any farther ahead than his current working script.

[7] The demonic element to the story also allows Brubaker to play with the idea of "If you had to kill a bad person, who would you pick?

"[5] Although Dylan becomes a murderer at the beginning of the story, Brubaker hopes the character's plight is sympathetic enough that readers will root for him.

[7] Dylan's arrangement with the demon has been interpreted as commentary on the War on Terror and the racially motivated violence publicised in the US in the two years prior to the book's publication.

[24] Dylan convinces himself this was a hallucination, but he begins to grow sick as the end of the month approaches.

[27] In his review for Adventures in Poor Taste, Nick Nafpliotis described the main character's flaws as "uncomfortably relatable.

"[28] He and other reviewers noted visual similarities to the Sam Raimi Spider-Man films and the pulp hero The Shadow.

[28][29] Reviewer Zedric Dimalanta was impressed with the Phillips' accurate depiction of speed loading a shotgun.

[23] Reviewers David Pepose and Drew Bradley praised Breitweiser for "sell[ing] the mood" and adding depth and texture to the finished page.

[31] In his review of the first issue, Nick Hanover said "the craft on display is unsurprisingly proficient," but that aside from Breitwesier's colors, it does not distinguish itself from the team's earlier works.

[32] Matthew Garcia agreed in his review for Multiversity Comics, saying that while the story was well made and entertaining, the themes and content were unsurprising.