Death Sentence Issue #5 - Graded B+

Title:	Death Sentence
Contributors:	Monty Nero Michael Dowling
Publisher:	Titan Comics
Issue #:	5
Year:	2014
Pages:	32 Pages
Age Rating:	18 (Language, Violence, Gore, Nudity, Sex, Adult Themes)
Story Grade:	B
Art Grade:	A

In Issue #5 of Death Sentence we find our heroes still at the secret remote island base and still being cliché characters.

Weasel is rebelling against the system, unless they bribe him, and then he gives them what they want, but only on his terms, which while cliché, is admittedly fun.

After Verity has her co-orgasmic experience with Monty, or whatever that was back in Issue #4, she becomes majorly depressed in this issue. The is a very predictable, very boring, character development on the first few pages.

And Monty... well... Monty... He just becomes more Monty. What else can I say. His ego knows no boundaries. Just to be clear I am talking about the character and not the writer. I thought I might make sure to clarify which Monty I am talking about since the author, Monty Nero went ahead and named or at least nicknamed a character after himself. Can you see who he identified with in this story?

The story does get better as you progress through the pages. The story arch digs a little into conspiracy which adds a little intrigue and fun. Those that you think are trying to help might not be and yet they might be; you just don't know. It is very X-Files. Think Cigarette Smoking Man, at this point. The challenge to the this creative team is that they one issue remaining to answer all the mysteries.

Verity and Weasel get coerced into stepping up and seeing if they take one for the team (the team being the world of course). You know, what else do they have to lose? I mean they do have superpowers, and only a few months left to live, what else are they going to do with their time, sit around moping; that would be too cliché?

At the beginning of the book I am ready to put it down and just say, "Fuck it, the characters are never going to be fully satisfying." But, by the by the end of the book the characters are satisfying enough and the story has enough intrigue and mystery to make me want the next issue. Damn you Monty Nero? Damn you to comic hell. I won't spoil the end of the book for you, but it definitely ends on a cliffhanger.... and you won't want to miss it.

The Art work has leveled off to a gratifying form. It isn't getting better, but it isn't any worse. It has found its place in the book and it works well. Michael Dowling has found his style with the story.

The art remains rich and colorful. I am noticing a pattern in the use of color. While in London, there is a common use of warm/hot tones (reds, oranges and yellows), which indicates welcoming, inviting emotions. This is interesting because the land is basically a wasteland of murder, fires and mayhem, basically hell on earth and the last place you would want to be, yet the color palette chosen welcomes you. Meanwhile the secret island base, a place of relative safety from Monty, is primarily using cooler tones of blues and greens which is indicative of standoffishness, coldness, uninviting feelings and sickness. I am getting a message in the use of these tones in the art and wonder if these are being used to foreshadow something that will happen in Issue #6.

Only time will tell I am sure, and even with the character flaws of the series, I looking forward to finding out.

I grade this book a B+. The story gets a B, simply because those goddamned cliché character flaws that keep being used and the art remains a solid A. Still a solid read. Check it out.