Jessica Harrow finds herself trapped between the worlds of the living and the dead, something no other reaper has ever experienced. Just what makes her so special? Can she make her way back to the afterlife, and what exactly is going to happen now that she can walk among the living? Find out in Grim #2, written by Stephanie Phillips, drawn by Flaviano, colored by Rico Renzi and lettered by Tom Napolitano for BOOM Studios.
Let’s talk about Death, baby!
Specifically, Dia de los Muertos. Super-specifically, the big reaper who comes to the parade at the Day of the Dead celebrations to take lives. Super-hyper-specifically, the reaper’s ledger of the dead that needs to be balanced.
What an opener! Not only do we have the vibrant colors of Rico Renzi to set the mood of this scene, but Flaviano’s expressions drop us into the Mexican culture’s acceptance of living life so close to death. This flash of life and colors is a nice contrast to the blues, reds and blacks that set the tone of the rest of the issue and the one before it. But is this too close to death for the living? It certainly seems out of the ordinary for this reaper to be collecting souls so visibly, based on what we learned last issue. How does what Jessica did tie into the ledger not being balanced? Does it have to do with her having lost her scythe? Was that really the head honcho, Death itself?
Speaking of Jessica, she’s with her friends, scythe in hand and Bryan in boat, as they try to figure this out. Turns out Death IS supposed to be the only one the living can see, and all Bryans with a Y are assholes (Sorry to any Bryans reading this. I didn’t say it, though I suspected it), but Bryan thinks Jess’ lack of knowledge has to do with everything going wrong. I think he’s right, but I also think he’s too willing to turn the focus off his own issues.
So Jess goes to see her boss, Adira, who has no answers for her and refuses to seek them out. She does, however, suspend her for letting Bryan steal her scythe and send her stomping away, insisting Jess isn’t being treated like a child (even if she acts like it here). And it appears Death wasn’t who visited the Dia de Los Muertos revealers, it was maybe something called The End? And Adira wants it?
A lot is yet unclear. We don’t know how Jess died. We don’t know what’s up with this ledger or The End. Jess keeps her space secret from her friends. She thinks her death has EVERYTHING to do with her being seen by the living because Adira says it doesn’t (and I’m inclined to agree). So Eddie tries to serenade the records keeper while Marcel and Jess break into the files.
With chutes like bank tubes, Marcel’s death pops right into his hands and we find out he died horribly with his love. Jess touches the chute and receives the memory of her death. Though her name isn’t entirely spelled out on her tube like Marcel Beaufoy’s. All we see is J.H. and it seems she never even got the chance to live. We also see Jess is not the only one who slips into a skull face when angry. Adira does, too.
This issue certainly opens more questions than it provides answers. Aside from the obvious ones, I’m curious to know how exactly Jessica, Bryan, Marcel and Eddie got out of that situation with the cop. I also want to find out more about how one gets to personalize one’s room after death. Eddie’s record shop is pretty damn cool.
One thing I know for sure is I want to read more from this world, and with a second printing running at BOOM Studios for the first issue, I hope it’s not one we see ending any time soon.
Cat Purcell is a Career Services Librarian, cosplayer, artist, and massive coffee consumer.
