Review: Dead @ 17, The complete first series
So, I’m not getting any work done tonight, I’m not in an unbeligerant mood, what will I do? I’ll start with the bad.
Josh Howard’s opening oeuvre in the comic world is good, but, I’m afraid that he doesn’t go as far as he should. He’s writing a story with religious connotations, nay, religious assertions, and he doesn’t break new ground or say anything controversial. He creates a subsystem, claiming to be contrary to the established mainstream, yet never deviating significantly from’t. I am disappointed.
That said, the writing’s solid enough (I’m more than a little worried that my first professional publication (ha ha ha, that was a little joke there) won’t be this seamless) for an artist’s early work (Miller aside that’s high praise). He has an unquestionably sensitive ear for teenage relationship drama, and there’s a good dribbling of sentimentality all around the bits that need it.
The art is great, though. I have a hard time conceiving of a world where this guy couldn’t get a pro assignment before this. Seriously. It’s the cream of the post-manga-American-style. We’re talking Chynna Clugston shit here. It’s sweet. For serious. Do you believe me yet?
Anyway, the shit that matters: There’s a bit of religious intrigue. There’s jailbait. There’s zombies (fuck yes, the zombies). There’s gun play. It’s worth your fucking money, kids.
Also, I’d like to apologize for copping out and just sticking in Wikipedia links. I am so very tired.
[EDIT] I feel it bears mentioning, and should the things I’ve been working on recently come to print it will become obvious, I feel strongly about people writing about religion.
I largely agree. I find religious overtones tend to end up pretty cliche, and Dead@17 is no exception. I kept seeing opportunities for the Warriors-of-God dynamic to be messed with, but that aspect is pretty much standard. No surprises in the angels department.
While the overall setting might be a bit weak, where this title shines is in the detail I think. The characters are interesting and although their big-picture motivations are pretty standard, the way that each of them deal with their situations is where the meat of the story is.
And yes, the sweet, stylish jailbait art helps. I actually picked up the book expecting only to appreciate the art and fully expecting the content to be garbage (as is the case with many indy artist-slash-writers (I’m looking at you, Joeseph Michael Linsner (I can nest parentheses with the best of them))).
The art brings to mind a gothier (if less experienced) Paul Dini. I have mad respect for Paul Dini, for obvious reasons.
Comment by Luis Boisvert — May 24, 2007 @ 7:30 am