ADVANCE REVIEW: Death Sentence: London #1

Story: Montynero
Art: Martin Simmonds
Publisher: Titan Comics
Release Date: June 10, 2015

It’s been a little over a year since the last time any of us were able to explore the sordid world of Death Sentence, but Montynero brings the ruckus once again with Death Sentence: London! It’ll be an ongoing series this time around, and thankfully the book will still be able to call Titan Comics its publishing home.

As for the story, the series picks within a few hours of the conclusion of Death Sentence #6; Weasel is greeted as the rock god that he thinks he is by the London faithful, but Verity is nowhere to be seen and of course King Monty is still dead. The British government is in shambles and struggling to restore order before wholesale looting and anarchy resume.

Across the pond, we’re introduced to a new player, namely Special Agent Jeb Mulgrew ”“ a tattooed and bearded undercover operative. He, as well as the terrorist organization that he’s been assigned to infiltrate, is completely oblivious to what’s been going on in the streets of London, but that doesn’t mean that everything has been peachy keen in his neck of the woods, either.

There’s a new weapon in the unofficial war against the G-Plus positive, one that has some rather extreme side effects;Â that’s saying something for a book that’s about an STD that bestows superpowers and sure death all in one fell swoop.

All told, it’s great starting point for the book’s continuation. The pacing is necessarily slower and it seems like we’ll be getting an almost “24”“- style view of things, give or take a few hours.Â Nothing is as rigidly plotted as the minute-by-minute frames of Jack Bauer’s world, but unlike the mini-series, the passage of time in “London”“ feels more clearly conceived.

The other new and most major change is that Mike Dowling has departed to work on other projects presumably and Martin Simmonds has taken over the book’s art duties in his place. For you Dowling-ites out there, take solace in the fact that he hung around long enough to give us a variant cover for the first issue’s release.

From the look of issue #1, Simmonds is more than capable of holding his own and while his style is a little more on the freehand side of things, aesthetics-wise, than Dowling’s, the quality of the artwork hasn’t declined at all.

I’ve never read a comic quite like Death Sentence, in either of its manifestations, and I’m enjoying the wild ride thoroughly. If you haven’t had the pleasure of reading the previous books, not to worry, Death Sentence: London #1 is an excellent place to get your first fix!

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Adam Cadmon

Adam Cadmon is the pen name for a man who has been writing for a few years. Heâ€™s done his share of straight-laced writing, college press, blogging, some other not very glamorous technical writing to keep the bills paid. Itadakimasu.