When I went to my local comic book store looking for issues of Kelly Sue DeConnick and Emma Rios’ newest series, I was told by the guy working in the shop, who at first couldn’t place the names, that it was “too obscure” for them to carry. All I could think was, “and you think the ladies are the ones who should be required to carry around their geek credentials.”
Pretty Deadly vol. 1 came out in trade paperback earlier this month, and it is awesome. I knew I had to read this as soon as I saw Kelly Sue DeConnick’s name. My roommate raved about the stellar changes she made as Captain Marvel’s new writer, so I figured I’d give this non-superhero comic book a shot.
The series takes place in the old west and ends up being a more modern mythology story. The story is being told by the skeleton of a rabbit to a curious butterfly, who never seems to notice that his storytelling friend is dead. The rabbit is telling the story of a young girl who travels with an old blind man. As they’re traveling through a town, a strange man with red hair (clearly indicating the precarious predicament his soul is in) gives the girl a binder, setting her story in motion, and putting her in contact with some really dangerous people.
This concept and a lot of the art reminded me of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman. Like Sandman, it took until the end of the first volume for me to decide I liked it, and then I immediately had to reread it. Pretty Deadly deals with abstract concepts, so it does take some getting used to. I think the art style, created by Emma Rios, is also very like Dave McKean’s Sandman work. The idea of Death in Pretty Deadly getting differentiating speech bubbles in particular was reminiscient of Dream’s dialogue.
Why I’m hardcore going to endorse Pretty Deadly: BADASS WOMEN. All of the ladies in this collection are spectacular in their own ways. My particular favorite is Big Alice, a gun toting emmissary of Death. When people see her, they cower. And rightly so. To reriterate, she is a badass.
Definitely check this book out. The story is really creative and original, the art is beautifully done, and it’s written by women about women. I’ll admit, it took me some time to get into the story, but once I did, I was hooked. Pretty Deadly vol. 1 could stand alone, but a series is coming, and volume 2 should prove just as interesting.
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