Joe Hill's first issue of
Dying is Easy, which is being published by IDW, lands on Wednesday (12/11). We were lucky enough to get our hands on an early review copy of the first issue of the 5 part mini-series, as well as an exclusive look at one of the interior pages to share with you! It also happens to be one of our favorite pages, with the exception of the last page of the issue (more on that in the review).
Hill will be familiar to those who read his
Lock & Key series, which is getting a NETFLIX adaptation sometime in early 2020. His other IDW comics include
Road Rage,
The Cape and
Thumbprint. Hill also starred in
Creepshow as "Billy".
The dark and noiresque illustrations were provided by Marton Simmonds with coloring being handled by the talented Dee Cunniffe. The scratchy and gritty lines of Simmonds are amplified by Cunniffe's fantastically dark and vivid colors. The two combined make for an interesting visual story to say the least.
Anyone that follows me knows that I
HATE spoilers, so I won't go super in-depth into issue number one. I will share the following up front;
Dying is Easy is NOT my typical fare when it comes to comic book consumption. Based on the first issue of the five part mini-series, it appears to be a murder mystery. I'm more of a tights and super powers kind of guy, so
Dying is Easy is a bit out of my wheelhouse. Luckily the cover (below) peaked my interest enough to open it up, and I'm glad that I did so.
Dying is Easy begins with a standup comedy routine by Syde Homes, also coined "The Insulting Detective" and "Shit Talk" Homes. Homes is introduced through this lengthy standup bit which reveals a bit about the protaganist. He's an ex-cop turned comedian who's genuinely funny with some great one-liners. I imagine his routine to be full of morbid stories with a dry delivery... Exactly the way that I would picture a homicide detective to be when telling their gruesome horror stories of what they find during their investigations.
Be warned - Issue #1 includes a LOT of dialogue. From Homes initial standup comedy routine, to the conversations and antics that happen behind the curtain, there's a LOT of reading. Luckily Hill's writing keeps it interesting and the dialogue back and forth serves several purposes... It introduces us to Homes and we learn a bit of his pre-comedy history. We are introduced to a handful of other characters and we learn a few things regarding relationships and motives that I'm sure will tie into future issues of the series.
Dying is Easy is anything but your run of the mill comic and the writing, art and color combine to create a very intriguing tale of humor, grittiness and levity. I'm relatively new to the "murder mystery" genre of comics, but
Dying is Easy has piqued my interest and I can't wait to see what issue number two brings to the board, especially with the cliffhanger that was left in issue number one (our favorite panels and page out of the story).
You can pick up
Dying is Easy at your local comic book shop (
ComicShopLocator.com), or directly from
IDW Publishing, beginning this Wednesday!