There are few thing I'm guaranteed to like in this world, but weird tales and beautiful artwork will always win my heart. So it came as no surprise that the newest Image comic by Kelly Sue DeConnick (Ghost, Captain Marvel, Avengers Assemble, and probably more that I've forgotten) and Emma Rios (Hexed, Stranged, and many others), with Jordie Bellaire, Clayton Cowles, Sigrid Ellis, is a personal favorite of mine. Imagine taking all the best elements from a wild west tale and heavily infusing it with myth and lore and deep, dark magic. What comes out is Pretty Deadly, a comic following the tale of Deathface Ginny, Death's daughter, and her quest for revenge against the man responsible for her Mother’s imprisonment and death. But judging from the bomb dropped in issue #3, this won’t be as simple or straight forward as Ginny thinks it will be.
Each issue delves deeper into the mythology woven into each character, and DeConnick is at her best here with writing that draws you in and won’t let go until you are gasping for air. From the deadly Big Alice to the mysterious Sissy, each character is fully formed and invites the reader to guess what their role will be in Ginny’s life. Non-human characters play a part in the tale as well, the narrator is a rabbit skeleton, presumably the rabbit Ginny is shown killing as a child in issue #1, and his companion is a butterfly eager to hear the tale. What their role will be in later issues is unknown, but I quite enjoy the storytelling format the comics are presented in.
The artwork is spectacular, enough so that even if I didn't love the story, I would buy them just to look at the art. Emma Rios has a particular style that is easy to pick out, and her use of color really shines in Pretty Deadly. There are various image motifs that are used throughout the comics in interesting ways, such as a spray of butterflies instead of blood at the end of a particular fight scene. The dead animal motif is one I feel lends itself quite well to the story, not only in the skeleton rabbit narrator but in Death himself having an animal skull instead of the stereotypical human skull face. The mix of beautiful imagery and the gruesome macabre gives the comics a particular feel to them, one I quite enjoyed.
Only three issues have been released so far, with the fourth coming to your local comic book shop on January 22, 2014. They are on a once a month schedule, which is the only thing I don’t like about Pretty Deadly. Once I finish one I’m dying for the next, and I hope you give them a try.
Story: 5/5
Art: 5/5
Character Development: 5/5
Overall: 5/5
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