Comic Review: Deathbed #4

Deathbed #4

Vertigo

Writer: Joshua Williamson

Artist Riley Rossmo

Folks, I’ve got a confession to make: most of the time, I don’t really like Joshua Williamson. I think he’s a fairly decent writer (that is admittedly showing strong signs of improvement over the course of his current Flash run) but nothing to write home about. I’ve got another confession: Most of the time, I don’t really like Riley Rossmo’s art either. Having seen his work fairly recently in Batman/The Shadow and Batman: Night of the Monster Men, his odd sense of proportion and unusually textured linework put me off initially and left me wondering what his particular strengths were.

One more confession and then I’m done: Deathbed has proven me completely wrong about both creators.

From the very first issue, I saw the art and was shocked at how different the soul was from the work I had seen previously. Rossmo’s layouts have always been proficient, but in Deathbed it is as if he has been set free. Characters flow more smoothly, the action nearly rockets off the page, the designs suit his style, and his mastery of the inset panel gives the reader expansive views of the sumptuously designed settings in the splash while also providing plenty of room for dialogue and closer looks at the expressive faces in the insets (used to especially good effect on pages 2 and 3 of this issue! And really the entire issue). The coloring, done by Ivan Plascencia, creates striking and complex contrasts between rich subdued hues and occasional flows of neon, leading to a surreal experience and elevating Rossmo’s pencils to another level. Plascencia is Rossmo’s usual colorist of choice, but here, like Rossmo, he’s been given free reign to create the palette however he likes – and the entire comic is far better for it. The art probably won’t be for everyone; Rossmo’s rarely is. But this feels like Rossmo and Plascencia at their best, making the kind of art they want to make, and that always gives me a fuzzy feeling inside.

Speaking of people making the art they want to make, let’s talk about Williamson. My exposure to him has mainly been through his Flash run, which didn’t impress me until recently. But the fact is that I didn’t even think to look at the writer for Deathbed until it came time to write this review, and when I saw it was Williamson I was more than pleasantly surprised. See, his Flash run has always felt a little weak on character for me. (Maybe that’s just because Barry Allen doesn’t have the most character as Flashes go. Sorry, Barry.) But that’s where Williamson surprised me, because Deathbed is nothing BUT character! Antonio Luna, whom I suspect is based on the Dos Equis guy, is truly the Most Interesting Man in Comics. He’s started a cult! He was a rockstar! He’s got zombie ninjas chasing after him! And he wants to write his life story. Or, more accurately, he wants to drag his reluctant ghostwriter Valentine Richards around to write it for him. Deathbed is as character-driven as it gets: Luna wants to tell his story and tell it right before he dies. Valentine wants to make it big as a writer and figures Luna’s story is a good way to do it. All of the very passionate conflict that occurs in the series is a direct result of Luna’s actions in the past, which makes for a fun dynamic since Luna is essentially fighting his own history in order to tell it. But, as we discovered in issue 3, he doesn’t quite remember everything he’s done. He doesn’t have a full story to tell. As he says in this issue, “I have been confronted with the idea that I am an unreliable narrator in my own life.” And that, to me, changes what was previously an ecstatic romp through a bloodied neon wonderland into a legitimately intriguing story about what it means to have lived life to the fullest. Part of the allure of Deathbed is that every issue drops the reader into a new location from the secret underbelly of the world, each place completely original and crazy fun to explore.

This issue sees Luna and Val going to “The Underwater Pleasure Gardens of Womba” in order to regain Luna’s lost memories by jumping into a pool of jellyfish whose stings cause you to relive your entire life. This is the kind of plot you can expect from an average issue of Deathbed. In fact, this issue is somewhat less action-packed than past ones, seeing as much of it is taken up by brash introspection on Luna’s part. This does slow the pacing down somewhat, but I think the average reader won’t mind a short breather after the tumult of the first few issues. Inevitably, of course, things do go wrong: Turns out Luna also screwed over the people who run the place, and when they find out he’s back it leads to an excellent cliffhanger. The art in this issue also makes wonderful use of blues and yellows and is a real treat.

It’s a fun issue, and Deathbed as a series is just seriously fun to read. Williamson, like Rossmo, clearly shines when DC editorial is off his back and he can do whatever he wants. The two of them actually make a far better team than I could ever have expected; their styles work together beautifully. Deathbed is an absolute thrill ride that shows no signs of slowing down, and issue #4 is as good a place to jump on as any. If you haven’t picked it up yet, I strongly recommend you do so.