Writer/Artist: Josh Howard
Publisher: Viper Comics
Damn! Just damn!
It shocks the hell out of me how good this book is! DEAD@17: Blood of Saints is fine, fine comics! I mean, my girlfriend (and artist) Jessi Nelson digs the book (it got the ever coveted, “Yeah, it’s good,” from her. That’s like winning an Eisner in the Embry household)! And I’ll take her thoughts and add my own Neanderthal twist to it and say… “Damn!” Just damn.
I know it doesn’t sound like much, “damn,” but it means something to me. Such a juvenile utterance signifies how completely stunned and speechless I am after reading this monthly! Normally I’d fill paragraphs with the quality of the art, the genius of the story, the excellence of the dialog, or the general brilliance of the overall product… but I can’t. This book was better than all my words! Issue one of this mini-series was purely fun setup. And issue two does a LOVELY job of ramping up the tension and… hell, the last three panels of DEAD@17: Blood of Saints #2 BLEW ME AWAY!
Plus, the desert looks good in this issue. Josh Howard can really do some sand. (I’m serious, the desert looks good! Mr. Howard has a lovely palate of colors.)
His new resurrected character, Violet Grey, is an interesting addition to the first mini-series’ lineup. So far, everyone has spoken about how hard it is to be one of the resurrected, how it drives most people insane; but no one has really suffered any ill effects from it that we’ve seen. Until now. Grey is setup in a handful of panels; so far she is endearing as the abused living-dead girl. I’m already wantin’ to see the DEAD@19: Violet Grey mini-series (if Josh Howard ever makes one).
But most importantly, this issue has an ad for DEAD@17: Rough Cut with yours truly as one of the writers on the project. I’m kidding about this being important. (However, the Hebrew in me requires the plug.)
Honestly, I feel the most important part of the comic is the final four pages of the issue where Nara, Elijah, Hazy, and Violet’s respective worlds go straight to shit. I so totally got my money’s worth outta this story!
Every issue of DEAD@17 is better than the last! Josh Howard is really coming into his own as a powerful writer and topnotch artist. And I find myself thinking more and more about the next issue.
But, switching gears to back issues, here are my reviews of the previous DEAD@17 comics. You can read the reviews of DEAD@17 #1 here, DEAD@17 #2 here, DEAD@17 #3 here, DEAD@17 #4 here, and DEAD@17: Blood of Saints #1 here.
And right now at www.ViperComics.com, Viper is conducting a poll to determine what Josh Howard’s next project will be: another DEAD@17 mini-series or something different. If you care to, take a moment to vote (you can also order the comic directly from Viper). And you can try the first few pages of DEAD@17: Blood of Saints #1 and see all four covers for the mini-series at Viper Comics’ DEAD@17 mini-site.
For more information about Egg, click HERE.
What did you think of this book?
Have your say at the Line of Fire Forum!