Writer: Gary Whitta
Artist: Ted Naifeh
Publisher: Image Comics
The first in the three-part series Death Jr Volume 2 is about Death’s son (Death Jr or DJ) - Death being the grim reaper, scythe wielding, black cloaked guy. Death Jr’s mom however isn’t dead, in fact she appears to be a nice blond lady who may or may not be stuck in the 50’s by way of appearances (i.e. what mom wears a pearl necklace around the house?).
The first volume of Death Jr showed DJ’s first day of school and him attempting to fit in, though being naive he has no idea that being on the short bus means he’s an outcast. The colors in the book are bold and eyecatching which makes the cleverness of the story that much more fun to read.
In the first part of volume two DJ gets into a bit of a fight with his best friend Pandora as he forgot to tell her earlier that he isn’t going to summer camp with the rest of his friends (Pandora, Seep, Stigmartha, and Smith & Weston), instead he’s taking an internship with his dad.
The series will split into two stories, DJ working at his dad’s company and his friends at summer camp. With Death Inc looking like your typical office building just a bit more on the evil side and summer camp looking like Stalag 13 (or 17 depending on if you’ve seen Stalag 17 the film or Hogan’s Heroes the TV show based loosely on the film) the series should be a very fun read. Though after only a small taste we won’t know till later if volume 2 will live up to the antics of volume 1.
With Naifeh’s amazing art (Polly & the Pirates, Courtney Crumrin) you can’t help but fall in love with DJ and his friends. Whitta’s plot is clever and funny as he continues with the same style seen in the first installment.This is an all ages comic and if you want more there is always the first volume and the video game to explore as well (Though some of us can’t get past level 1). It may cost a bit more than your average comic, but this is due to the higher quality paper stock, and with a great story you won’t regret it.
Sabrina Peyton- Newly migrated to the UK to be with her husband. After working for Diamond Comics for a short time she ended up immersed in a few comic book forums and ended up moderating two of the largest, the Warren Ellis Forum (WEF) and Mark Millar’s forum Millarworld).
She’s written for Sequential Tart, The Vampirella Magazine, and is Editor in Chief of Fractal Matter.