Advance Review: Dead End Kids #3

One thing that Dead End Kids writer Frank Gogol has a talent for, is wedging in Cliffhangers.  He definitely showed in Dead End Kids #1-2 that he knows to stop the story when tension is at its highest, leaving you on the edge of your seat in anticipation, and wanting to stick around to see what happens next.  The best cliffhangers pick up the story right where it left off and provide a clear resolution based off of everything that was shown to have occurred to viewers in the previous installment. And then there’s Dead End Kids #3…

Dead End Kids #1-2, exposed us to the story of a group of friends dealing with the grief of losing their friend, that they believe was murdered.  The most interesting aspect of the story was the contextual background stories on the parents and how it affected how their kids faced the problem.  Those peeks into their lives changed how I saw the children and the parents and made for an interesting reading, and was building towards something special.

I get it, unfortunately, sometimes writers may discover that they’ve written themselves into a corner with no way to resolve a cliffhanger based on how the prior issue ended, but Dead End Kids #3 didn’t need to end.  What is seemingly promised to happen at the conclusion of Dead End Kids #2 turns out to be something else entirely and feels off.

Usually a new story line or change of pace starts after a cliffhanger, and the shocking new issue is not addressed or acknowledged, and things plod on normally as if nothing ever happened, but this was the final issue. Dead End Kids.  Maybe the reason I’m so resentful towards this issue is because Dead End Kids really is a good story but issue #3 just ends so abruptly, that the holes in the conclusion are glaring.

Final verdict:  It was a pleasure to read the first two issues, but the pacing feels more like it’s supposed to go for at least 12, and the abruptness that this was ended makes me think that there was supposed to be more. If handled well enough, and they promise to extend this series, most readers may not notice it, or even care all that much. If not, a lot of people are going to feel duped and not very pleased.

I give this a Heartbroken 2 out of 5.