I've starting storing up Kickstarter rewards of late. While I've been continuing to pickup the more mainstream comics in print from my LCS or as trades, I have to admit that with Kickstarters I always buy digitally. The main reason for this is to save a little cash, although it also means saving a little space (why I can't get this to apply to all the other books I don't know).
However, while I thought it was a good idea at the time, my lack of desire to read has hit these digital/pdf comics really hard, as I constantly seem to forget about them when I finally want to read.
Therefore, this weekend past, with some spare time on my hands, I resolved to read one and that one was all four issues of Nick Bryan (Writer, Fairyfare), Robert Ahmad (Artist, Devil in Disguise), David Cooper (Colourist, Face Down in the Mud) and D.C. Hopkins (Letterer, ... too many titles to just choose one)'s Death of a Necromancer. This series brings horror to the small town setting of Tibbin as local prankster Ralph goes for a job at a new Chicken restaurant. However, all goes awry when he ignores the signs leading to his untimely demise. Fortunately for Ralph though (and many other local denizens), his new boss, Victoria, is a Necromancer and resolves to bring them back to life.
However, this is all prep for the good Doctor Hedgewood as she plans to separate herself from her death in order to live forever. Unfortunately, when Ralph's conscience gets the better of him, all Hell (quite literally) breaks loose as He and Victoria's death, Tori, are chased down by Tori's former body, an overseeing Reaper and the entirety of Tibbin's formerly dead residents as hilarity ensues.
Now, back when the Kickstarter was underway, two things about this series convinced me to give a shot; the artwork of the always incredible Robert Ahmad and how the title, concept and cover gave me the vibe that this was going to be a story in the vein of Shaun of the Dead. After reading it, however, I was please to see that neither of my expectations were misplaced.
I enjoyed Death of a Necromancer. It was very much the quirky comic that the entire Kickstarter campaign (the visuals, the sales pitch, the whole kit and caboodle) really sold me on. In fact, as I read through it, I got the feeling that it was on a similar vein to Samuel George London's Milford Green (although with a more supernatural take) crossed with the B Movie Cockneys vs. Zombies (which you can find on Netflix ... or at least you could).
Of course (and it really goes without saying at this), what I really love about this series is Rob Ahmad's art (because I'm a big fan and, I'm convince he'll be Darwyn Cooke's successor one day). While I did think it looked a little less sharp than what I've seen of his stuff in prior works, this style actually works really well as it conveys the more humorous tone Death of a Necromancer seems to imbue in its vibe, especially when coupled with David Cooper's perfectly fitting colour palette.
Then there is the writing, or more specifically the journey that main character Ralph goes on through this series. Nick Bryan really seem not only wrote a series filled with some humorous, very British, jokes, but the best part was watching our undead, chicken-dish preparing protagonist have a character arc which went from hapless to more hapless hero and beyond as the finale hits.
The series isn't perfect as its opening feels a little more directionless than I was expecting, but this doesn't last long as the wheels align as the story progresses. In fact, once I reached the end, this is but a distant memory compared to feeling engrossed in the events as they transpired.
In short, Death of a Necromancer was a fun little read and an enjoyable use of my time. It's also a reminder to have more faith in comics (something I've maybe been losing of late) and make more time for them ... especially the Kickstarter comics on my Google Drive.
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