Posted in: Comics, Image, Review | Tagged: Bengal, crime, death or glory, image comics, rick remender, Rus Wooton
Death or Glory #4 [Late] Review: Action and Excitement Ramp Up Again
Glory and Pablo's younger sister, Isabelle, are hiding from Korean Joe's maid-like helpers. The blind one is close to finding Glory and Isabelle, so Glory hangs her by her clothes on one of the meat hooks and escapes with Isabelle. They hop into a car, pick up Pablo, who rides by holding onto the bottom of the car, and try to get away from Korean Joe's people.
Death or Glory #4 is an intense action comic with gloriously over-the-top execution while still managing to stay grounded enough to feel tense and dangerous.
This is on par with the nutso first issue, which was a thorough joy to read. The hide-and-seek with the maids is unnerving, and it explodes into a high-octane car chase that has Fast and Furious-levels of insane stunts and near misses as well as a solid helping of bad guys splattering on the hood of the car.
We also learn some of the backstory of those creepy maids, and this is part of how Death or Glory manages to feel grounded despite the aforementioned insane car chase. These characters read like people, and even the ridiculous car stunts feel more like necessity and happenstance that are accomplished partially out of luck.
Bengal's artwork continues to be wonderful and is a large part of why Death or Glory is so good. It balances the cartoonish with a hint of realistic depiction. Emotion and expression can be exaggerated, but human bodies are still human bodies—realistically shaped (mostly) and not action figures. The colors are often bright to keep the energy levels up in the visuals. When things go darker, it's because there is something scary or grim occurring, but, even then, there is still an injection of brightness to remind you this is Death or Glory.
Death or Glory #4 is yet another fantastic issue in this Rick Remender series. The action is insane and gripping, the characters are compelling, and Bengal's art is top-notch. This one definitely earns a recommendation. Give it a read.