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Graphic Novel Review: Pretty Deadly Volume 3: The Rat by Kelly Sue DeConnick, art by Emma Rios

Cover art for Pretty Deadly volume 3: The Rat

Pretty Deadly Volume 3: The Rat by Kelly Sue DeConnick, art by Emma Rios

Image Comics, 2020

ISBN-13: 9781534315198

Available: Kindle, paperback

Buy:  Bookshop.org  |  Amazon.com

 

 

DeConnick and Rios’ Pretty Deadly Volume 3 : The Rat launches us forward in time from World War I to 1930s Hollywood. The late Sara Fields’ granddaughter Clara has been found murdered. Her Uncle Frank, known as “Conjure-Man” to some, is desperate to find her killer. He tracks her path through Los Angeles, where the Reapers of Hunger, Thirst, and Obsession have each attempted to lure Clara to their way of life in some way. Frank calls out, loud enough for the Reaper of Vengeance to hear his pleas to help him find out what happened to Clara. Deathface Ginny appears to aid her old acquaintance.

 

As per volumes 1 and 2, volume 3 presents a compelling story with familiar characters, and a few new ones. I could read an entire series on Deathface Ginny alone. Getting a few more glimpses of the Immortal Reapers is interesting as well. I wish we had more of them. Art by Emma Rios and colours by Jordie Bellaire are, as usual, well rendered. I’m hoping there will be more Pretty Deadly in the future by this team, especially knowing that Image released Pretty Deadly: The Shrike Vault Editionon April 30, 2024.

 

The long gap in years between  the publication of volumes 2 and 3 was unfortunate. Luckily, I was able to access all volumes through interlibrary loan to reread the first two and finally read the third.

 

Pretty Deadly Volume 3: The Rat collects issues 1-5. At the end of the trade paperback is a collected discussion guide created by Dr. Jeremy Stoll, which makes this a book that could find use in the classroom. Recommended.

 

 

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Posted on July 10, 2024 by , Reply

Graphic Novel Review: Pretty Deadly Volume 2: The Bear by Kelly Sue DeConnick, art by Emma Rios

Pretty Deadly Volume 2: The Bear - de Connick, Kelly Sue

Pretty Deadly Volume 2: The Bear by Kelly Sue DeConnick, art by Emma Rios

Image Comics, 2016

ISBN-13: 9781632156945

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

Buy:  Bookshop.org  |  Amazon.com

 

Pretty Deadly Volume 2: The Bear moves the first volume’s timeline ahead to World War I. Sarah Fields lays dying, and her children want nothing more than their brother, Cyrus, to arrive in time to say goodbye. They approach Fox, formerly a blind man traveling with young Sissy, now a dapper sighted reaper, to give their mother until the next full moon to take her. He takes this to Sissy, who agrees. Sissy herself has changed, as she has taken on the mantle of Death, and appears as a blend of human and shrouded vulture. The problem is that Cyrus, now a young man, is fighting in the war in the trenches of France, where the Reapers of Vengeance and Cruelty run rampant. Deathface Ginny and Big Alice ride together for similar purposes.

 

Things have changed for everyone.

 

The second volume is easier to follow than the first, but just as strong. (See my Monster Librarian review for Pretty Deadly Volume 1: The Shrike here.) DeConnick used a more linear storytelling method for this installment. However, she did not lose any of her philosophical integrity in addressing very human questions regarding war. There is a deeper meaning here.

 

The artwork by Rios is incredible. It is easy to get lost in panels that have so much energy to them, but deliciously so. Scenes on the battlefield are intense, between the movement and Jordie Bellaire’s color palette. The updated character design for Sissy as Death is beautiful, and Fox as a reaper cleans up nicely, as the saying goes. Seeing more of Deathface Ginny and Big Alice was fantastic. Highly recommended.

 

Pretty Deadly Volume 2: The Bear collects issues 6-10.

 

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Posted on July 1, 2024 by , Reply

Graphic Novel Review: Lot 13 by Steve Niles, art by Glenn Fabry

Lot 13 - Niles, Steve

Lot 13 by Steve Niles, art by Glenn Fabry

Dark Horse, 2023

ISBN: 9781506734484

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

Buy: Bookshop.org | Amazon.com

 

 

The story opens in 1670, in Fairfax, Virginia. The bodies of the Wyatt family are on trial. The father, Robert, stands accused of murdering his family before committing suicide. The court ultimately finds him guilty of mortal sin and cast their bodies into unhallowed ground for eternity.

 

Time switches abruptly to the modern day. A married couple are finally ready to move into their dream home. Their three children aren’t as ready as their parents to leave their friends and apartment, but they will get used to the idea in time. The family load up into the moving van, and head to their new home in Fairfax. Unfortunately, when they arrive, the house isn’t ready to be occupied, and the cozy family has to find other accommodations. After an accident on the road, they come across an apartment building, where they are welcomed by an elderly man. When they start seeing things, the secrets of the mysterious building emerge, and they find themselves fighting for their lives.

 

The story is okay, but not great. It is good if you just need some gore. Some things don’t line up or even get addressed. For instance, when the family hits what appears to be a child in the middle of the road with the moving van, gore is all over the front of it and the road in one panel, and in the next it is gone. There is no viscera on the hood, no body parts littering the road. There is also no discussion over what just happened, just the son pointing at a random building nearby advertising apartments to rent for a night to a year. The family just appears to forget what they just saw. The incident is never spoken of afterward. Weird things happen in the building, and some of it is treated in a similar manner. It makes me wonder if the family often has mass hallucinations to make them just gloss over such things.

 

It took me a minute to remember the name Glenn Fabry. I admit I am really bad with names. As soon as it hit me, I knew the art was going to be intense. His covers for Preacher are incredible, and his art in general is fantastic. Fabry goes above and beyond with the amount of gore in this one. Highly recommended, more for the art that the story

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

 

Posted on March 15, 2024 by , Reply
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