DEAD EYES OPEN #1 REVIEW

[Anand Khatri]

Reviewer: Anand Khatri, CaptainBuddocks@aol.com
Story Title: Chapter One: “Dead and Hating It”

“Jimmy Hoffa Comes Clean!"

Writer: Matthew Shephard
Artist: Roy Boney, Jr.
Editor In Chief: Jennifer de Guzman
Publisher: Slave Labor Graphics

Zombies! Well...sorta.

Imagine that you died one day...and woke up the next. Your mind is unchanged, but your body is decaying. You don’t have a sense of smell, you can’t feel temperature changes, and you can't feel your heart beating within your chest anymore. What would you do? How would you feel? What would happen to those you hold dear? What would happen to you?! This series looks to answer these questions through the adventures of psychiatrist-turned-living dead, Dr. John Requin.

Matthew Shephard starts this four-part miniseries with a sense of quiet intensity. The main characters are as paranoid as the rest of the world they live in. Requin doesn’t know what to do; his patient Henry (now deceased...twice) is confused; and his daughter Julie is fearful, asking Requin a simple question: “Daddy? Are you going to eat my brain?” The lives of the people around the world have been turned upside down by this unexplained phenomenon and Shephard conveys this atmospheric feeling of jumbled emotions perfectly. The dead wonder why they still live, a fearful, uncaring government sends in trained teams to execute the risen, and an underground revolution is being organized by those who woke up rotting.

Boney’s art is an acquired taste. His art isn’t perfect, but it fits in well with the style of story Shephard is telling. Everyone is cast in darkness--both literally and metaphorically. Shadows dominate each panel, even when the scene is set in daylight. The art seems untidy and unrefined, a chaotic mess of scribbles that have a certain sense of shape to them. It fits the tone of the storyline perfectly because it manages to convey the chaotic nature of the environment that it is set within. Governmental teams break into houses; show up at a person's place of employment and shoot them square in the head. People are confused, scared, angry and expecting things to get worse. It’s this sense of negativity that Boney draws with sublime skill.

Dead Eyes Open #1 was a very promising read from SLG, and I’m looking forward to the next issue.

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'Buy this issue online now from X-WORLD and save!’

[Al Harahap]

This book reads like a Tales from the Crypt episode. Or like a really twisted version of Robert Kirkman's Walking Dead.

I agree about the art being an acquired taste. Sometimes, I couldn't tell which figures were supposed to be humans and which were zombies. I think if the art had human figures minimal in lines and inked hairline style, it'd make more of an effective distinction.

Originally Posted by Anand Khatri

“Daddy? Are you going to eat my brain?”

That was certainly a highlight.

[Dylan McKay]

I didn't find anything particularly bad about the comic, but it doesn't connect on any level with me.