Thursday, September 13, 2007

Death! Learn to love it...her...him...whatever.

Until it comes, no one really knows what Death is like. Oh, a lot of people think she's kind and funny and very, very 90's...
I used to find this a lot cuter, to be honest.
Some people are afraid of Death, and find her cold and disturbing...
Hey, I thought 'Pool was a chubby chaser?
Um...sometimes more disturbing than others.
If the Black Racer comes for me, the gospel of Kirby was right!
Maybe it's different for everybody...
Hello, nurse!
Yes, in the land of Skartaris, even Death is a hot, scantily clad babe.

During their search for Morgan's daughter, Travis and Shakira run across a dinosaur--sort of a fat, orange raptor-thing, I guess. His handy .44 automag puts a good sized hole in Dino's head, but it still runs over both of them.

Travis wakes up to Death, who isn't there for him just yet.
OK, that's hot.
Leading Shakira away, Morgan pulls himself up and gives chase, into hell. Kind of a budget hell, really: looks like they spray-painted the "Abandon hope" spiel on the wooden gate in. Past the demon puppeteer, Morgan's greeted by all those he's killed...no, just three or four guys he's killed. Sigh. Man, if Grell had gone the same route as the Balder issue of Thor, that would've put this issue over the top.
Oh, come on!  I know Thor killed some of you guys!  And Volstagg fell on you, don't take that out on me!
Facing Death, Morgan offers to take Shakira's place, but Death doesn't want to lose one of her best hitters. She offers Morgan a trade: ten years off his life, for the chance to save Shakira. Morgan accepts, and Death brands him good:
Working at the Bar X ranch sucks!
After hacking up a couple trolls, and a tentacle from nowhere, Morgan carries Shakira out of hell, then passes out. When he wakes up, Shakira is fine and worried about him. It was all just a dream...
Early tattoo removal methods left something to be desired.
Or was it?

Well, I'm not sure it ever came up again, so yeah, it was. Or maybe Morgan gave up fatty foods and smoking and got those ten years back. From Warlord #46, "X" Written and illustrated by Mike Grell, inks by Romeo Tanghal.

Death of the Endless from Death: The Time of Your Life #2, written by Neil Gaiman, pencilled by Chris Bachalo, inks (and some pencils) by Mark Buckingham, more inks by Mark Pennington. This was the only issue with this Death I could find, and I damn well had to dig for it. Figure the rest were lent out, borrowed, or swiped.

Marvel Death from Deadpool #32, "The End of the End, or, Happy Entrails to You..." The last issue written by Joe Kelly, art by David Brewer, Perrotta, Mahlstedt, R.Ramos, and more. A little rushed, and not as strong on the art front as the book usually was; but Kelly had to wrap it up in a hurry.

The Black Racer from Flash: Our Worlds at War #1, "Time on Target" Written by Geoff Johns, pencils by Angel Unzueta, inks by Jose Marzan Jr. Kirby's Racer looks a little better with a more monochrome design, but it's still a bit of a tough sell. The New Gods have had worse redesigns, though: their post-Kirby 70's outfits are across-the-board terrible. Place your bets on the Black Racer being the only surviving New God: I'd say that's about a 20-to-1 shot...

Balder tells how he fought his way out of Hel in Thor #360, "Into the Valley of Death!" Art and story by Walt Simonson. If you haven't read the Simonson era Thor's, let me assure you: get them now, and enjoy them for years. I was actually thinking this was shown in a different issue when I wrote it up, but there you go.

2 comments:

SallyP said...

I must admit that Neil Gaiman's version of Death, is my favorite. She's just so perky. Marvel's is a bit dull,although I do like Hela from Thor. She had some interesting character traits.

Anonymous said...

Surely Shakira has the same "nine lives" thing going as Wildcat does, right?

And she looks much better in a furry bikini to boot...