After three weeks of dedicated reading, I've finally finished reading Die. I can't lie it was a massive tomb, and has led me to almost constantly think 'I feel sorry for poor Santa who had to deliver it'.
For the longest time, I've heard a lot of good and interesting things about this series from Kieron Gillen, Stephanie Hans and Clayton Cowles which tells the story of six teenagers who are transported to a mysterious world during a Dungeons and Dragons game only to return two years later missing one of their number and the arm of another. Now, twenty years later, the 'survivors' are summoned together again when the mysterious 'Die' they were using in that game is returned to them, leading to these former players having to return to the game they thought they'd escaped.
However, despite the praise this (as well as Once and Future and many other Gillen series) had been getting, I was initially sceptical due to my being the only person in the world who didn't like his Young Avengers run (I still prefer the Heinberg/Cheung run to this day).
Thankfully though, a free copy of the first issue on Comixology convinced me to give it a go ...
... leading to this past Christmas and Father Christmas possibly acquiring a Hernia thanks to it (it is REALLY heavy).
I have to confess though, after three weeks and 20 issues (plus a D&D campaign's worth of backmatter content) I'm still just as unsure as to the story that Die was telling as I was at the beginning. However, this doesn't take from the fact that I found Gillen story as compelling as anything else in the world. Truthfully, despite a lot of mystery surrounding the story and direction/mission that had been set, I found myself night after night simply unable to put this collection down with a deeply intriguing world containing truly captivating (if not entirely likable) main characters. The scale which was given in Die was truly unreal in it's Jumanji meets the Neverending Story vibe and helped make the entire saga feel like it was more a dream rather than an experience which the characters were truly trapped in.
Of course, my view on the series being more dreamlike is in no small part to Stephanie Hans' artwork. A big draw during that first issue read which convinced me on Die's worth, I am absolutely in love with Hans work in this series. The style is just so gorgeous and, frankly, has such a dreamlike look to it in almost every page that I was continually convinced that the end would see a return to that first night a la Jumanji. However, while this did look dreamlike, it was equally nightmarish with so many brutal, heart-wrenching scenes which feel all the more so thanks to the artwork.
I will admit, I feel as if I'm being a little vague about Die, particularly given the impact it had on me.
True, the story beyond 'we have to get home' felt like Kieron kept it close to his chest right until the very end (and maybe even beyond in some aspects) and maybe that answer will be found in the backmatter (of which, thus far, I have barely scratched the surface). However, the more I read, the more I think I became convinced that this was not about the destination but about the journey.
Sure, by the end an overarching villain is revealed, but for me that seemed like less of what I cared about. As I read Die, I found myself wondering, is this a story about people being themselves? Because, sometimes, society makes us be and act a particular way, is this a tale about six people, forced to conform in some way normally, actually having the opportunity to be themselves and, in doing so, learn that they are actually being themselves in the real world or that, in Die, they are quite literally someone else entirely.
I think I'm rambling at this point but, suffice to say, this was an unbelievable comic series to read. Beautiful, addictive, thought-provoking, I'm glad that I listened to the hype and gave it a chance.
Now though, I find myself wondering if Gillen and Hans plan to return to this world, given that this collected edition says 'book 1' on the side.
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