ADVANCE REVIEW: Dead End Kids #2

As of the writing of this article Dead End Kids #1, has sold out in stores and is already going for 8 times the cover price.Â Â That’s an amazing accomplishment for up and coming writer Fran Gogol. That is especially big for a title with no ‘big screen’ buzz behind it, and none of the renown big artist behind it.Â Dead End Kids, which is published by Source Point Press, , illustrated and colored by Nenad Cviticanin, and lettered by Sean Rinehart as talented team a team as they are none of the them has had that breakout success yet…until now.

Dead End Kids, follows the story of a group of friend dealing with the grief of losing their friend, and not just their friend, the lynch-pin, the kid who held them together.Â He was the kid that while each individual kid was dealing with stuff at home, he brought them together as their own functional family unit.Â When anyone dared to try to step to them, he stepped up and beat them down, lot he was the kid who stood up to throw the punches, but know he was gone and the group of friends believe he was murdered.

Dead End Kids #2, purports to be a continuation of the their private investigation into the death of their friend, but it so much more.Â Using an interesting combination of narrative device; Flashbacks;Chekhov’s Gun, (or in this case a knife); Revelations that changes story; exposition; and nested stories, Gogol spins a story with heartbreaking fragmented stories, but when brought back together through the children is satisfyingly triumphal save the possible murder .

The most interesting aspect of the story for issue #2 is the contextual stories on the parents.Â Its most revealing that some of the dysfunction that was bestowed on the teens was accidentally cyclical.Â The parents had no intention of being abusing or neglectful parents.Â In fact they had plans to be good parents, but that was not to be. Those peeks into their lives changed how I saw the children and the parents and made for an interesting reading.

Illustrated and colored by Nenad Cviticanin, Dead End Kids includes complicated background stuff so he went for a simpler approach, just the right amount to help tell the story without taking anything away.

Final verdict: It was a pleasure to read both issues, but it’s only supposed to be a 3-issue miniseries, but the pacing feels more like its supposed to go for at least 12. So I would be shocked if it just stopped at 3 issues.

Dead End Kids 1 Cover A which is sold out almost everywhere, headed for a second printing!Â There are indications that the second issue might be sold out as well and with good reason.Â There is also an Anomaly Exclusive cover by Ben Templesmith; Hip-Hop Comics Variant Colm Griffin Art First Print LTD 100.Â Source Point Press also put out an advanced copies of Dead End Kids #1 at C2E2 with a convention exclusive cover limited to just 25 copies.

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Writer: Frank Gogol
Artist/Colorist: Nenand Cveticanin
Letterer: Sean Rinehart
Cover Artist: Criss Madd
Editor: Paul Allor
Publisher: Source Point Press