Falling in Love on the Path to Hell
Gerry Duggan and Gary Brown. Image, $9.99 trade paper (112p) ISBN 978-1-5343-2883-9
This pulsating, blood-soaked slow-burn romance from writer Duggan (the Deadpool series) and artist Brown (the Massive series) joyfully remixes tropes from the samurai and western genres. Amid vigorous head-loppings, brain-splattering six-shooter action, and sword-and-spear clashes against zombie hordes, each staged and colored with sickening power, this series kickoff favors pared-down storytelling and archetypal characterization. In 1877, on opposite ends of the earth, a revenge-driven male cowboy and a defeated but incapable-of-surrender female samurai fight their doomed battles to the death, linked by smart cross-cutting and twilight imagery. Both awake with the “corpse tide” on a deserted island where other dead warriors assemble each night to fend off ravenous ghouls. As the protagonists acclimate to the afterlife and slowly discover each other’s elemental powers, Brown’s nimble, inventive layouts capture the passage of otherworldly time. Amid the plethora of battles, every decapitation is an event. Notably, though, some grindhouse conventions are upended, such as a scene of attempted rape in which the woman saves the man. More familiar are new agey hints about the mysteries of the island—perhaps inevitably, redemption is a theme. This gritty-but-heartfelt genre mash-up embraces the medium’s freedoms and possibilities without pretension. It’s perfect for readers who favor red meat and formal rigor. (Jan.)
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Reviewed on: 02/04/2025
Genre: Comics