“A Good Day To Die”
Artists: Laura Braga, Darick Robertson, Richard Friend and Trevor Scott
Color Artist: Rain Beredo
Letterer: Saida Temofonte
Review by Steve J. Ray
DCeased – A Good Day To Die #1 is horrifyingly hilarious… or possibly hilariously horrifying. Either way I laughed tons, and it was scary. Following on from, and also fitting in between, the events from DCeased #1 – #4, this issue is pure magic… in more ways than one.
The anti-life plague that is ravaging the Earth is one that was birthed by science, so could sorcery be the way to combat it? Tom Taylor and his collaborators try to answer that question in the most humorously terrifying way… or possibly the most terrifyingly humorous.
The teams of heroes that Taylor and co. bring together in this issue is stellar, clever, and totally off the wall. Seeing Barda, Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Fire and Ice all together again gave me a warm J.M. DeMatteis/Keith Giffen/Kevin McGuire glow of nostalgia. I felt like I was reading one of the classic 1990’s issues of Justice League… but with some undead murder and mayhem thrown in. Add a pinch of the loquacious, Liverpudlian, magical, miscreant John Constantine, and we get a recipe for rambunctiousness that’s hard to beat.
The issue was superbly written (no surprises there, then) and the art was very good, if a little inconsistent. I’m not saying that the quality varied, it was all good, but I feel that there was too much of a mix of styles, and to my eyes, this interrupted the flow of the story a little. I’ve always been the kind of reader who prefers the one artist per issue approach. While Laura Braga, Darick Robertson, Richard Friend and Trevor Scott all did great work, having two pencillers inked by three inkers just made the book feel a little disjointed, in my opinion.
Grateful Dead
Tom Taylor kills the DC Universe. Yep… that pretty much sums up DCeased #1-#4 and this very issue. This is a writer who seems to be enjoying his work immensely, as he keeps coming up with many, varied and brand new ways of killing all our favorite DC characters. Oh… and in his native Australia and my home in the UK, this comic may well have been censored for language, but as our American cousins don’t use the same colorful colloquialisms in their day to day conversations, us foreigners can laugh our tushies off.
Color artist Rain Beredo seems to be getting better and better, issue by issue… and the guy was awesome to start off with! From the opening page with Barda and Mr. Miracle Boom Tubing to (what’s left of) Apokolips, Beredo’s colors generate heat, light and dripping, warm viscera.
Letterer Saida Temofonte also seems to be having a ton of fun. Once again, look at that splash page, and all the great dialogue and sound effects in this issue, if you don’t believe me.
Conclusion
Whilst not perfect, DCeased – A Good Day To Die is still great fun, and I would highly recommend picking it up and sticking it in with the rest of the series. The characters, dialogue, action, horror and laughs are expertly crafted and the book is a joy to read. The art is very good, though I wish it could’ve been handled by one art team. Still, that’s a minor quibble when everything else about the issue is first rate.
Images Courtesy Of DC Entertainment