Deathbed #1 Review

Writer: Joshua Williamson

Artist: Riley Rossmo

Colourist: Ivan Plascencia

Letterer: Deron Bennett

This is a very odd issue and I'm not sure what to make of it.

Joshua Williamson is known for his horror work and him coming out with a Vertigo book somewhat makes sense. Riley Rossmo, as far as I know, hasn’t been working very much lately and has only contributed to the more horror-based DC stories, namely THE BATMAN WHO LAUGHS and NIGHT OF THE MONSTER MEN. I don't want to spoil the events of this issue but I need to read the next one to fully grasp exactly what Williamson and Rossmo are going for.

Our main character, Val, is a writer who is asked to write the memoir of this suspiciously renowned man. Val's a very interesting character and I hope we get to know more about the character, which I don't think we will as Williamson dumps as much information on her as possible during the first few pages. I expect we'll be focusing on this mysterious man, Antonio Luna.

I'll just say that the true tone of the series comes out near the end of it, mostly going against what was established before. When things change, they get weird and exciting, and this is why I need to see if the team can manage an entire issue of this kind of story.

Rossmo's art is pretty nice here. It's certainly stylistic and may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it really brought the story to life in a way that I can't really picture anybody else doing. Ivan Plascencia's colouring is fantastic, lending to the weird tone the book is going for.

This is a weird story but it's my kind of thing that might not be for everyone, story-wise as well as artistically. Williamson and Rossmo need to impress with the next issue to really keep me on board, but I think this will be an interesting story that'll bring some people over to Vertigo.