DCeased Dead Planet #1 Review
Writer – Tom Taylor
Pencils – Trevor Hairsine
Inks – Gigi Baldassni & Stefano Gaidiano
Colors – Rain Beredo
Publisher – DC Comics
Man, I honestly can’t believe how fast this year is going by. I felt like I was just getting hyped after hearing the announcement that we would be getting a sequel to the original DCeased run. I’m not complaining though because this year hasn’t been the greatest and now is the perfect time for such an exciting story to come out to give us a little bit of an escape and enjoy the sweet emotions that Tom Taylor has given us in everything he has ever written. DCeased has blown up to become so much bigger then I think DC ever could have imagined and that is truly because of the magic Taylor has brought to the original series as well as Unkillables which was only a mini series but had all the action and excitement of a full run. We also now have a digital first series in Hope at Worlds end which has always been highly received. Now we begin the official sequel and it stays true to the rest of the series hitting hard and fast right off rip.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned when it comes to reading stories written by Tom Taylor it’s never to get attached to a character because Taylor is ruthless and will kill off all your favorites and will waste no time doing it. It’s not just killing characters that makes Taylor an elite writer though. Taylor is able to really use death in his story as a way to show us a more human side of earths greatest heroes and reall break down a more emotional side of them that we don’t normally see in regula hero vs villain stories. This story isn’t one where we are rooting for our heroes to beat the bad guys but instead we root for them to overcome and use their losses and emotions to drive them forward which is something that I have come to love in this series. Issue #1 really takes us back into that mindset as right from the beginning we are thrown into the pain and torment that happened in the original story and then takes us to how the surviving characters have evolved and grown from the original story as they have to return to where it all started and they have to relive that pain and endure it again as they battle to survive and reach their objective. Taylor is just a writing mad man and I absolutely love what he was able to do here in this first issue. I was expecting a bit of an emotional ride but was not prepared for it to be so soon.
The art of this first issue also is a key to bringing back the original emotions and feelings of the story as Trevor Hairsine comes back on board for this sequel. Hairsine was the artist on the original series but was not involved with Unkillables or Hope at Worlds end which I think helped separate those stories and make them feel more unique from the main story arc. Coming back to a direct sequel though, I’m glad to see Hairsine return because it does the series justice and brings back the emotional visuals that we experienced in the first series. Hairsine work in this issue is all incredible and I personally felt like it was a step above the original series as everything just looked more fluid and complete, leaving no details untouched and delivering some incredible character designs which aren’t like anyother DC book because now he is working on characters we’ve all seen as younger but have never seen older. Hairsine did an incredible job aging the characters that had to age and making them still have similar features as their younger selves so that when we looked at them we were able to distinguish who was who and I can’t imagine that was an easy feat but Hairsine makes it look like a cake walk in this issue. The inks and colors of this issue are done by three artists I’ve never heard of before but they did an excellent job of cementing their names in my mind because of the stellar work they did in this issue bringing Hairsines pencils to life. The inks are all done smooth and clean and I didn’t notice any instances of them taking away from the pencils. The colors of this issue are also all perfect adding that final emotional look that helps sell the story in this issue. Most of the colors are sharp and vivid and the darks are done particularly well giving is that deep feel when needed. Overall the entire art team on this job did an excellent job of coming together and making everything look coherent and clean as well as just beautiful and terrifying at the same time.
This first issue really jist checks every box that I can think of when I look for an incredible book and that is exactly what this team has delivered. I’m so excited to see such a powerful first issue and I can’t wait to see where this story goes from here. DCeased Dead Planet #1 is available now so head out to your local comic shop and pick it up today. It is also available in digital format so you can purchase it via your preferred digital retailer. Please make sure you guys let me know what you thought of this first issue by leaving your comments below!
-Wes Greer
Pencils – Trevor Hairsine
Inks – Gigi Baldassni & Stefano Gaidiano
Colors – Rain Beredo
Publisher – DC Comics
Man, I honestly can’t believe how fast this year is going by. I felt like I was just getting hyped after hearing the announcement that we would be getting a sequel to the original DCeased run. I’m not complaining though because this year hasn’t been the greatest and now is the perfect time for such an exciting story to come out to give us a little bit of an escape and enjoy the sweet emotions that Tom Taylor has given us in everything he has ever written. DCeased has blown up to become so much bigger then I think DC ever could have imagined and that is truly because of the magic Taylor has brought to the original series as well as Unkillables which was only a mini series but had all the action and excitement of a full run. We also now have a digital first series in Hope at Worlds end which has always been highly received. Now we begin the official sequel and it stays true to the rest of the series hitting hard and fast right off rip.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned when it comes to reading stories written by Tom Taylor it’s never to get attached to a character because Taylor is ruthless and will kill off all your favorites and will waste no time doing it. It’s not just killing characters that makes Taylor an elite writer though. Taylor is able to really use death in his story as a way to show us a more human side of earths greatest heroes and reall break down a more emotional side of them that we don’t normally see in regula hero vs villain stories. This story isn’t one where we are rooting for our heroes to beat the bad guys but instead we root for them to overcome and use their losses and emotions to drive them forward which is something that I have come to love in this series. Issue #1 really takes us back into that mindset as right from the beginning we are thrown into the pain and torment that happened in the original story and then takes us to how the surviving characters have evolved and grown from the original story as they have to return to where it all started and they have to relive that pain and endure it again as they battle to survive and reach their objective. Taylor is just a writing mad man and I absolutely love what he was able to do here in this first issue. I was expecting a bit of an emotional ride but was not prepared for it to be so soon.
The art of this first issue also is a key to bringing back the original emotions and feelings of the story as Trevor Hairsine comes back on board for this sequel. Hairsine was the artist on the original series but was not involved with Unkillables or Hope at Worlds end which I think helped separate those stories and make them feel more unique from the main story arc. Coming back to a direct sequel though, I’m glad to see Hairsine return because it does the series justice and brings back the emotional visuals that we experienced in the first series. Hairsine work in this issue is all incredible and I personally felt like it was a step above the original series as everything just looked more fluid and complete, leaving no details untouched and delivering some incredible character designs which aren’t like anyother DC book because now he is working on characters we’ve all seen as younger but have never seen older. Hairsine did an incredible job aging the characters that had to age and making them still have similar features as their younger selves so that when we looked at them we were able to distinguish who was who and I can’t imagine that was an easy feat but Hairsine makes it look like a cake walk in this issue. The inks and colors of this issue are done by three artists I’ve never heard of before but they did an excellent job of cementing their names in my mind because of the stellar work they did in this issue bringing Hairsines pencils to life. The inks are all done smooth and clean and I didn’t notice any instances of them taking away from the pencils. The colors of this issue are also all perfect adding that final emotional look that helps sell the story in this issue. Most of the colors are sharp and vivid and the darks are done particularly well giving is that deep feel when needed. Overall the entire art team on this job did an excellent job of coming together and making everything look coherent and clean as well as just beautiful and terrifying at the same time.
This first issue really jist checks every box that I can think of when I look for an incredible book and that is exactly what this team has delivered. I’m so excited to see such a powerful first issue and I can’t wait to see where this story goes from here. DCeased Dead Planet #1 is available now so head out to your local comic shop and pick it up today. It is also available in digital format so you can purchase it via your preferred digital retailer. Please make sure you guys let me know what you thought of this first issue by leaving your comments below!
-Wes Greer
A Look Inside
