Die!Namite: Blood Red #1 // Review
It’s brutal The deadmen are rushing-in for the attack. Infected with the X virus, they’re a real danger to anyone who isn’t one of them. Thankfully, there ARE those who are able to hold their own against the massive, chaotic army of the undead. One of them is wearing read and carrying a gatling gun on top of the cab of a semi truck. Things still manage to look bleak in Die!Namite: Blood Red #1. Writer Fred Van Lente and artist Marco Finnegan open-up a whole new horror super crossover for Dynamite Comics with. colorist Ellie Wright.
Elsewhere, Vampirella is trying to gain access to information. She’s a private investigator looking to talk to someone who has the kind of a life that requires a bodyguard. And the woman in question doesn’t employ just any bodyguard, so she’s clearly not antagonizing just any enemies. The practical upshot of this is the act that Vampirella has to have a bit of an exchange with Miss Fury. It’s not an altogether unpleasant exchange, but at least one thinly-veiled threat IS delivered before Vampirella walks out. Elsewhere still, there’s a zombie fight being held for some people with money. The smart money is on the disembodied head.
Fred Van Lente has a sharp grasp of some rather clever dialogue. The first issue consists of some scenes, which each have at least a degree of cleverness about them. The world that's being established for this particular crossover mashup is an appealing kind of post apocalypse. It's fun to hang out between the pages. That being said, their reason that much of a driving course launching the story forward. It seems to take a while in developing its momentum. Judging from the overall pacing of the first issue, it feels like the story could really hit it stride by the end of issue two.
Finnegan’s art is kind of overwhelmingly thick with ink. Large stretches of black lounge across the page. There isn't nearly enough detail to give the action a whole lot of impact. And the action itself feels quite stiff in places. This is not to say that there isn't ample drama and horror. However, Finnegan fails to capture the kineticc potential in a woman running away from a army of zombies or a prize fight between zombies including at least one severed head. There is great potential for great or in and around the edges of a very sharp and sharper rib, comedic horror mystery. As of the end of the firstFinnegan hasn’t quite reached that potential yet.
There's no questioning that there's an appeal in the story that's being presented here. As of the end of the first issue, the appeal still feels kind of bogged down underneath all of the world building that needs to happen in order to fully establish what it is that's going on in the series. With any luck, everything begins to come together by the end of the second issue.
