I thought they got rid of that ol’ Deadbox? Guess it’s still out there fading in the sun, huh? Bad choices and bad movies continue in Deadbox #3, written by Mark Russell, drawn by Benjamin Tiesma, colored by Vladimir Popov, lettered by AndWorld Design and published by Vault.
Thom is a bad dad, and his son has a bad time with a monster from … The Closet #1/2, written by James Tynion IV, drawn by Gavin Fullerton, colored by Chris O’Halloran, lettered by Tom Napolitano and published by Image (after first appearing on Substack).
You love this column. You will continue to read this column. And also engage in crime at your own peril in There’s Something Wrong with Patrick Todd #1, written by Ed Brisson, drawn by Gavin Guidry, colored by Chris O’Halloran, lettered by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou and published by AfterShock.
Will Nevin: I goofed and gave us like two weeks off, Ian. I’m glad the entire rest of the industry responded in kind, but I promise it will never happen again. Unless it does.
Ian Gregory: Let’s be clear about how this column works: I sit around doing nothing until Will sends me the first draft with all the relevant release info, and I commit my silly little thoughts to the page. Could I have stepped up and started working on this article a week ago? Yes. Will I ever do that? No.
Will: I’m glad we’ve cleared up the workflow problem. In that it’s me.
Deadbox #3: Let’s Not Make It Too Hard for You, the Reader
Will: Speaking of taking a break, this book practically rose from the dead to return to shelves. Deadbox #1 came out Aug. 11, 2021. Issue #2 followed right after in September. But #3? It’s not just us taking our time to review it — it came out last month. And, look, I know that delays happen in the industry, and I’m not trying to shit on anyone here, but for whatever we want to say about this book, it’s at least a little remarkable that it came out since so many other series would be left for dead after a delay like that.
That said, this issue feels like a mess. Gun violence is a terrible plague upon this country, and our continued inability to do anything meaningful about it is a stain upon this “democracy” that’s fueled by blood money political donations. But what does this issue say other than guns are bad? That people who build their identities around guns are bad? That the violence you put into the world will eventually be visited upon you? So much of this issue — like the detour into showing us Pee Paw’s backroom full of Confederate and Nazi memorabilia — felt like it either didn’t need to be said or saying it added nothing of substance.
Ian: If I remember correctly from our first review of an issue of this series, written maybe seven years ago, I complained that this series felt like a caricature of the South by someone who had never been there. Just like in issue #2, where wearing women’s clothes leads to instant ostracization, in issue #3 everyone’s got a gun and can’t wait to use it. It’s a vision of a purely white Southern America that doesn’t exist in reality.
Will: I think one of my podcast partner Matt’s missions in our show BatChat is to get me to dig Grant Morrison’s run on Batman, and while I might eventually come around, he hasn’t gotten me into it yet because Grant’s stuff doesn’t do it for me for whatever reason. Now, I feel like I’m trying to pull that trick with you and Russell. Aaaaaand I’m sure this issue isn’t helping me.
Ian: I feel like Russell’s series treat the reader with kid gloves. The metaphors are painfully obvious, the jokes just straight-out references to modern events, and so on. It feels very surface level, as if he’s afraid to do anything more than the most simple metaphors for modern social issues. Do you ever read the summary for a book or comic or movie and just roll your eyes at how transparent it is? As in, you can tell exactly how it wants the reader to interpret the work and feel about the characters, with no room for nuance or interpretation? That’s how I feel about Russell’s work so far.
Will: I am nothing if not dumb, Ian. Did the art do anything for ya? Can I salvage some kind of win here?
Ian: There are vague gestures at interesting ideas. The out-of-towners appear to be part of a militia that buys them a free pass from the local cop — say more about that! Elaborate on the relationship between white supremacy and the police. Instead, those guys just rob a diner (for what reason?). There’s the ending, where a “good guy with a gun” wins at the cost of killing everyone in his store. That’s not such a bad idea either. But it’s all coated in this over-the-top moralizing that keeps anything from feeling real.
What’s with this recent run of morality play anthology series, Will? Are you trying to tell me something?
Will: It’s the closest thing to church I have, Ian.
The Closet #1/#2: Yeah, He’s a Shitty Parent … And?
Will: James Tynion IV is a writer who kinda confuses me. His Batman was profoundly “meh” (but don’t let anyone in the ComicsXF office hear you say that), but his Joker is one of my favorite Batman series. Department of Truth is a fantastic book that I need to get caught up on … and this … well, I don’t quite know what to make of it. Through two issues, all we really know is that our dad Thom is a real selfish prick, and that selfishness comes through in his relationships with his wife, his friend and his son, a son who’s being plagued by a monster from the titular storage area.
It’s an interesting character study in Shittiest Parent, Banal Division, but this isn’t reaching the horror or intellectual heights of Department of Truth. And if I’m being honest, I’m happy that this is a three-issue series rather than something longer. What did you get out of these first two issues?
Ian: Hearing you say this is a three-issue series immediately raised my opinion of it. There’s not much here. As you said, Thom is a Bad Parent and a Bad Husband in all the classic ways (he drinks instead of helping to pack! He pines over ex-girlfriends! He doesn’t take raising his kid seriously! He blames his wife for all his problems!), but he’s so bad at everything that he’s totally uninteresting. His poor kid, though, is haunted by a classic sort of monster in the closet, done up like a Grey or something, that I’m sure is meant to symbolize the parental neglect he feels. Or whatever.
Will: The art, if nothing else, is great at setting this ominous vibe that, again, the story doesn’t quite pay off. How are you likin’ the visuals here?
Ian: I love the design of the monster, and I like that it’s a child-like monster, to match the child who imagines (?) it. It gives the whole series a kind of alien abduction vibe. I also liked the scene in issue #2 where Thom is talking to his friend out by the fire and the backgrounds just totally give way into darkness. It’s good stuff.
Will: Thom’s friend — who is totally done with his shit — has some good facial expressions in that scene, too. Finally, where do you think we’re going in the conclusion? I’d enjoy a good ol’ fashioned surprise where the monster is not actually a monster but instead is taking the kid away to a good family. (Then again, these parents aren’t exactly abusive. They’re just … not great. Parents can’t all be winners.)
Ian: The cover of the next issue seems to imply that, in some way, the father is the monster, which is the kind of undergrad Intro to Creative Writing energy that I’m here for. I don’t know. I got almost nothing from this book. It’s not poorly done, but I can’t muster the excitement to care. I think my bar for indie horror series has been gradually raised higher and higher the more mediocre series we read. A series needs to hit on three main points: concept, art and character. This has plenty of great art, a mediocre concept and no characters worth watching.
Will: Smokey in the Closet III: Smokey *IS* the Closet Monster. Again, Tynion continues to be confoundingly inconsistent.
There’s Something Wrong With Patrick Todd #1: Call Us Intrigued, Maybe
Will: Finally, we get to what was — for me — the Freshest Chicken of the Week. AfterShock #1s can be a mess of premises that start good and don’t go anywhere (Naughty List) or books that are remarkably overwritten (Where Starships Go to Die). This, I thought, while a tad overcooked at the end, was one of the better debuts from the publisher that we’ve read. What was your take?
Ian: This wasn’t bad! We’ve got a Good CopTM on one end and a Teen doing the Wrong Things for the Right Reasons on the other. That’s a formula I don’t mind seeing again. That’s the characters working well. I also like how many open questions we have after this first issue: Is Patrick the only one with powers? How was he found out? Who is Zeus? What’s up with his mom? That’s a lot of places this story can go, and I think a lot of interesting ways it can develop. Ultimately, I think this first issue did the right thing by sticking close to its two main characters. I feel like we’ve had a run of first issues where a character narrates the History of the World at the reader, and AfterShock is guilty of this in particular.
Finally, a series where the writer doesn’t feel the need to explain everything in the first 10 pages.
Will: The opening splash really worked for me — I love Guidry’s heavy inks, and O’Halloran (of Ice Cream Man acclaim) always does wonderful work with colors. I even wasn’t irritated by any of the lettering! Really, while this maybe wasn’t a home run, it was a solid double.
Ian: There’s a nice kind of graininess to these colors that gives you that drab, suburban mood without washing out all the colors. There’s some really good expression work in this issue, too, from the manic grin of the bank robber to the vacant stare of Patrick’s mother. These aren’t exactly characters with strong designs, but everyone feels distinctive and realistic.
Will: I haven’t read a lot of Ed Brisson’s stuff, but what I have read (The Violent), I really enjoyed. As long as this stays relatively grounded (inasmuch as a story about a guy with the ability to influence others to do anything can stay grounded), I think I’m going to enjoy this.
Ian: Ed Brisson does lots of crime books, and despite the supernatural element, this is definitely a crime book. Like you say, the groundedness of the story, and in particular Patrick’s motivation, is what sold me on this issue. I’d buy issue #2.
Does This Smell OK?
- Rapid fire questions:
- What was the last film you realized was a terrible mistake upon viewing?
- Will: La La Land. What a mess.
- Ian: Reign of Fire. Just from start to finish: Whose idea was this?
- Childhood fear?
- Will: Escalators. *shudders*
- Ian: Anglerfish. I had a “science book” with one on the cover and I hid it underneath my bookshelf for years so I wouldn’t have to look at it accidentally.
- What are you using your magical power of manipulation to do?
- Will: Convince Donald Trump to swallow his own head. On live television.
- Ian: Get a job with health insurance. Then the Donald Trump thing.
- What was the last film you realized was a terrible mistake upon viewing?
- Apparently it’s a grievous sin to take food home from a wedding! Who the fuck knew?!
- CNET has some tips for reheating leftovers (Spoiler: most of them involve an air fryer), but it’s this column’s stated position that pizza should never be reheated.
- You could make dip using leftover chili with this recipe … or you could just open up a few cans of Hormel and add cheese like a normal person.
Will Nevin loves bourbon and AP style and gets paid to teach one of those things. He is on Twitter far too often.
Ian Gregory is a writer and co-host of giant robots podcast Mech Ado About Nothing.
