Death Sentence Issue #2 - Graded A

Title:	Death Sentence
Contributors:	Monty Nero Michael Dowling
Publisher:	Titan Comics
Issue #:	2
Year:	2013
Pages:	32 Pages
Age Rating:	18 (Language, Violence, Gore, Nudity, Sex, Adult Themes)
Story Grade:	A
Art Grade:	A

Death Sentence Issue #2 is back and stronger than ever. The government is actively, no aggressively would be the appropriate word; aggressively hunting our three primary characters.

The characters begin to be to develop more in this book as does the reader's love or hatred of the characters.

Weasel tries his best to begin making amends for his wasted life, but his life is just one accidental mess after another and there seems to be no end to how fucked up his life can get.

Verity is on the run from the government as they try to contain what they view as a very volatile threat to national security.

Monty really does become a true douche-nozzle in this book as he begins testing the limits of not only his powers but his appetite for carniality and immorality.

This story really clearly defines itself in this book. The author begins to make it clear who you should care about, and who you should not be loving at all, which wasn't as clear in issue #1. The government is playing a larger role in this story with shadowy ops, surveillance and secret locations. I don't trust them. The question on everyone's mind at the end of the book is does Weasel get away. All in all, the story, the characters and the world as a whole is developing nicely.

I failed to mentioned in the review of Issue #1, the end of each book includes a little guide on publishing your comic book. It appears to be a step by step guide with each issue including the next step to working on your book (covering only highlights as it really go into that much depth as volumes could be written on the subject of publishing), which is pretty cool. These tips cover writing, hiring and paying an artist (as well as why you pay an artist), and a whole lot more. Totally worth reading if you are developing your own book. While these sections of the books aren't the end-all-be-all wikis of the comic development processes, they are nice references for someone starting out looking for a place to be begin researching a plan to start with.

The art is getting really good. It is still very adult in nature, but it gets cleaner (lines and detail) and much richer and entertaining with each issue.

All in all I enjoyed this issue even more than the first. I began liking certain characters more, and liking other characters less (for all the right reasons in both cases). I felt compassion and disdain for the characters. This is a huge step in the right direction from Issue #1.

The series is really developing nicely and looks to become breakout hit. It will be interesting to see how this develops in the coming issues. I foresee Monty turning to the darkside in a big way.

Until next time... happy tea sipping.