End of Life #2 – Kyle Starks, Writer; Steve Pugh, Artist; Chris O’Halloran, Artist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: The strange tale of Eddie Stallion continues this issue. He’s screwed up his life beyond all repair by pissing off his own syndicate after robbing one of the ringleaders accidentally, and now he’s on the run. That’s sent him running back to his hometown, which used to be a theme park tourist hub until the owner was super-cancelled for terrible crimes. Now, he’s crashing with his estranged father, who is dying of lung cancer but is still spry enough to point a gun at him in the middle of the night. He’s able to broker a truce with the old man while trying to figure his way out of this situation, but now an even bigger challenge is ahead of him – getting to know the rest of the town. Kyle Starks usually has at least a few elements of comedy in his work, and this is a perfect example. Because this town might as well be straight out of a quirky TV dramedy – except that the protagonist of a hard-boiled crime drama had been dropped into it.
Eddie has no interest in getting to know the people of the town, but escorting his father to the farmer’s market makes pretty clear he’s not being given a choice. It’s great watching him try his best to alienate everyone in sight, but they’re mostly unfazed. He’s even starting to form a few real connections with people, despite himself. But at the same time, his enemies are closing in, and he comes up with the idea to get the items his co-conspirators stole back and return them. There’s just one problem – said co-conspirators are itching at the chance to backstab him and get revenge on him for some old slights. This issue doesn’t have as much action and violence as the first issue, but when it does show up, Starks and Pugh make it count. This is an old-school grindhouse comic packed with surprising twists, and it works so well because despite his best efforts, Eddie Stallion is a great character who you find yourself rooting for.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
