|
DEADMAN #1
Neutral (4/10)
|
DC Comics
Writer: Steve Vance
Pencils: Josep Beroy
Inks: Dan Green
Colors: Dave Stewart
Letters: Bob Lappan
Editor: Andy Helfer
Price: $2.50 US/$4.25 CAN |
I pretty much hated Deadman: Dead Again, so I didn't hold out much hope that this new Deadman series would have much to offer me. And while it doesn't exactly fill me with enthusiasm for the character, I do think Vance is on a less super-heroic track with the character, which seems like the right direction to go. With artwork by Beroy that is generally solid and occasionally really good, a pretty interesting cast of supporting characters and a mystery, Deadman is off
to a stronger start than the limited series that preceded it. But it still
hasn't really hooked me.
The real difficulty I'm having with the series is that Deadman just isn't a starring player. He can't really interact with the world that well, and he can't really have much of a social life to provide an interesting contrast to his heroic doings. If played for horror or drama effect, Deadman might have a
stronger chance, but playing him as a super-hero in any way seems silly. Vance
tries to get around that by introducing a dwarf detective as the lead "physical"
hero of the story, who has Deadman as his back-up, and that partnership works
reasonably well, although it definitely gives the sense that Deadman is a
supporting character in his own book.
Actually, the supporting cast
is the strongest element of the book. Deadman is by definition a circus freak,
and surrounding him with other circus freaks makes perfect sense. It also has
the bonus of giving us memorable and unusual characters, as well as the
potential for some truly strange cases. Counterbalancing this choice is the
inclusion of escaped evildoers from Nanda Parbat, which strikes me as the kind
of thing that could turn the series formulaic very quickly if Vance isn't
careful.
I did find a lot of the
dialogue in the book fairly clumsy. The expository writing that takes place in
the opening sequence is particularly obvious, and much as I loathe establishing
flashbacks, it might have been better to give us a couple pages restating the
premise and outcome of the Dead Again limited series rather than forcing Brand
and his pal Max into an awkward conversation. In general, Vance's dialogue lacks
any zing, coming across as serving its purpose but failing to really define any
of the characters emotionally.
Artwise, the series is
likewise a little bland. Josep Beroy and Dan Green have some outstanding
moments, such as the sequences within Nanda Parbat or their design for bearded
lady Moira, but a lot of the work is mostly uninspired. The storytelling is
fine, but the panel layouts, backgrounds and action are all overly familiar and
flavorless.
In the end, I suppose that's
my feeling about the series so far. It's perfectly readable, and has potential
to be more, but there's not much life to it. The subject matter requires a bit
of a weird edge, and the creative team so far isn't really providing it.
Email Randy Lander comments about this review, or discuss it on the Fourth Rail message board. |
