As soon as I saw Ted Naifeh's name on this listing in Previews, I was sold. His work on his Courtney Crumrin comics for Oni Press and How Loathsome for NBM has made me a big fan of his work, and he doesn't disappoint with his efforts here. Gary Whitta's script about little ghouls and freaks at a suburban school actually makes for a sharp contrast with Naifeh's work on Crumrin. Those comics are also supernatural in tone, focusing on young characters, but they're all about attitude. Death, Jr. embraces a more innocent tone from which to derives its charma nd appeal, and it does so pretty well. Naifeh's designs are, not surprisingly, simple but strong, and the characters and plot are a lot of fun. The only problem with this first issue is it's unnecessarily long, feeling padded out and avoiding any real sense of plot until the final few pages.
DJ and his parents have moved to a new neighborhood, and that means a new school -- and hopefully new friends -- for the young tyke. As if the new surroundings weren't enough of a challenge for a youngster, though, he happens to be... special. His pets don't last long. Neither do plants, and he worries people might be the next ones to fall under his unlucky streak. He quickly makes friends at his new school, but he fails to see that they're all special like him, freaks who are spurned by the rest of the students. Of course, the reason DJ fails to see this is that he doesn't see himself as being all that different as well.
I love Naifeh's designs here, especially for the conjoined twins and Seep. They're striking and a little fearsome, but also adorable, in their own twisted way. The artist's vision of the Grim Reaper is chilling and exudes real power and menace. The contents of the vault at the museum later in ths issue were real visual treats as well. Naifeh brings his usually dark, gothic style to this new property, but at the same time, it doesn't overwhelm the lighter, cuter side of the book.
Pandora loves to open things? The conjoined twins have opposite personalities? The kid with the touch of death doesn't feel all that different from any other kid? I love these little bits of characterization here. Furthermore, the contrast between Death Sr.'s gruesome appearance and his caring, average-joe attitude is actually kind of charming.
Whitta spends way too much time reinforcing the title character's "gifts" and showing the reader how he and his new friends are pariahs at school. It doesn't take much for the reader to figure this stuff out, but Whitta keeps hammering away at it, burying the actual storyline in the closing scene. 7/10
