Dying is Easy #2 Review

Syd has a murder he needs to solve.  A murder that he’s the main suspect for.  But he can’t imagine the strange twists ahead of him.  Your Major Spoiler review of Dying Is Easy #2 from IDW Publishing awaits!

DYING IS EASY #2 (OF 5)

Writers: Joe Hill & Martin Simmonds
Artist: Martin Simmonds
Colorist: Dee Cunniffe
Letterer: Shawn Lee
Editors: Chris Ryall & Megan Brown
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: January 8th, 2020

Previously in Dying Is Easy: The prime suspect in the death of joke stealer and general thief Carl Dixon, Syd’s on the run, and it’s going to take all of his investigative chops to suss out the real killer before he gets caught.

Time To Chase Down Some Leads

Dying Is Easy #2 opens up with Syd desperately trying to escape an apartment as two policemen close in.  With nowhere to go and no shoes to be found he slips out the window and makes a harrowing scamper along a ledge into his neighbor’s apartment. As the policemen run into feline obstacles, Syd makes his way to street level.  He finds a payphone and makes a call to his friend who informs him how Carl Dixon died and why he’s being pinned for it. After the call, Syd follows up on his first lead. Remembering seeing someone rolling a cigarette using a pawn shop ticket from the night before, he heads to said shop.  There he confronts the owner about what had happened, while the real killers show up and overhear the conversation.  They take off running and Syd gives chase while wearing roller skates.  He catches up to them and the ensuing fight leaves Syd clinging to the grill of a jeep, speeding down the street.

Truly Unlikeable

There’s no way around this, the dialog in Dying Is Easy #2 is really rough.  Between misogyny and homophobia, the dialog manages to advance from creating unlikeable characters to creating an unlikeable comic book. It seems like there was an attempt here to conjure a combination of early Tarentino,  Guy Ritchie, and Happy! Unfortunately it doesn’t nail the feel and instead of being vulgar yet fun and intelligent it’s just crass and at times, offensive. There isn’t much salvation in the plot itself either.  Almost every aspect that moves the story forward is based on a strange, coincidental decision from another character.  From the usage of a pawn shop ticket to roll a cigarette to a pawn shop that has no shoes but a pair of roller skates that fit a grown man’s feet, this issue has just one too many inexplicable items.

The Art On The Other Hand…

This is a really nice looking book.  It does go with the watercolor and sketchy line look that is almost obligatory for a crime book, but it’s done well.  There’s a point with this style when things get muddy and make things hard to discern, but Dying Is Easy #2 never reaches that point, instead it stays on the side of atmospheric, expressive, and stylish.

Bottom Line:  Derivative And Unpleasant

Dying Is Easy #2 is a beautiful looking book that is dragged all the way down by bad dialog and lazy plot.  There are hints at influences here, but never manages to achieve the tones that those influences nail.  Instead what we end up with is a comic filled with offensive and ugly dialog over a plot that is too reliant on things that are either too convenient or just goofy for goofy’s sake. 2 out of 5

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Dying is Easy #2

60%

60%

Too Much Bad

Dying Is Easy #2 has some pretty decent art and color work. But it’s just not enough to overcome the plot and dialog. In a rare misstep by Joe Hill and Marin Simmonds, this comic is just not very good.

• Writing

  3
• Art

  7
• Coloring

  8
• User Ratings (0 Votes)
  0