Traditionally, comics about Death fall into the weird, borderline indecipherable artsy style or the goth style that kicked off with gothy favorite Death from Neil Gaiman's Sandman. Jim Massey's take is somewhat different, a humor strip that focuses on the nonsense of day-to-day life and modern day politics. Death Takes A Holiday poses the deep, philosophical questions about death that we all have. Questions like: What would Death wish for if he had a genie? Where does Death stand on an anti-Devil coalition? And should death have a sexy, sassy sidekick? OK, maybe these aren't the questions we've all asked, but that is what Death Takes A Holiday #1 is about, and it's a lot of fun. Massey's story is about a slacker version of Death with a bit of a biting wit, reminiscent of Norm McDonald's take on the character in Family Guy but with a bit of a political edge.
You might not think that a strip about a slacker Death would be a great venue for political commentary, but as it turns out, Massey does some of the funnier commentary I've seen on the Bush administration's foibles outside of The Daily Show. Massey doesn't spare the lunatic fringe on the left, either, with a funny skewering of the simplistic "No Blood for Oil" crew to go along with the hilarious parody of Bush's "coalition of the willing" that features Jesus and Mohammed trying to take down the Devil.
Though Death Takes a Holiday is at its funniest when Massey is poking fun at Bush's Iraq war policies through the use of religious figures, most of the book is a pretty good example of comic timing. The outrageous, somewhat needy personality of the genie is a lot of fun, like something out of Berke Breathed's Bloom County, and Massey's "Angels" strip is a delightfully cynical answer to those annoying people who tell you that any good fortune must be a result of God's interference. Whereas most projects about Death are somewhat pompous and even pretentious, Massey's borderline surreal take on the character and his day-to-day existence punctures that very sort of reverence around religion and afterlife concepts with a charming dry wit.
The artwork on Death Takes A Holiday can charitably be referred to as "minimalist" and more honestly referred to as "amateurish." But honestly, it doesn't really matter, because Massey's art carries the comic timing, which is the most important aspect of the book. Massey even uses the pretty crude art style with one gag about trying out "special effects," something that works very well, and honestly, the minimalist style is part of the charm of the book. Death is a bit of a slacker, the kind of guy who if he didn't wear a robe to work would be wearing unwashed, frayed clothes instead, and so the basic, somewhat tired appearance that he has is just perfect.
Death Takes a Holiday is one of those weird independent projects that you never hear of, which is a shame, because it's really rather mainstream in its approach. Oh, sure, those with strongly held Christian values or some sort of demented belief that Bush and his cabinet aren't completely insane needn't apply, but for the rest of us, this is a funny book well worth seeking out.
