[Editor’s note: This review may contain spoilers.]
Writer: Sarah Vaughn
Artist: Lan Medina
Summary
When spirits in an old house are being claimed and taken away, Boston Brand, also known as Deadman, comes to the house to see exactly what’s going on. Now trapped by the dark entity, Deadman must not only stop the entity, but the escape the house himself!
Positives
Deadman #1 comes off as a suspense thriller and I love it. I haven’t read anything of that genre in a long time and it felt good experiencing it again for a little while. Sarah Vaughn does a great job of building up tension and suspense, and with Lan Medina’s eye-catching detail it makes this book a great read. I think Medina’s more grounded and realistic art on this book makes it that much better. Vaughn does a great job on storytelling from Bernice, a wife who lives at the haunted home. It’s her insight that we have in the beginning of the book before Deadman has any narration yet. Her story is greatly told — although it does have problems in its telling.
Negatives
My only complaint about this issue was it was too much of a good narration. From the very beginning of the book we have the narration of Bernice, who was basically our eyes and ears throughout, even while Deadman was fighting the dark entity. However Bernice’s narration after a few pages wears pretty thin, and I was eager to hear things from Deadman’s perspective. The more deeper in the story I got, the less I cared about Bernice’s view. I wanted Deadman’s narration, which Vaughn does a wonderful job of writing. Now in the middle and toward the end of the book that’s precisely what we get, however I just don’t think a side character should’ve gotten so much time telling the story.
Verdict
Deadman #1 was a decent read. If you’re a fan of suspense and the supernatural or unknown this obviously this book is for you. I haven’t read many of the supernatural books of the heroes of the DCU unless it’s been Constantine or Doctor Fate or so it’s good to enjoy a completely different character. Definitely read Deadman #1 and I promise you won’t be disappointed!
