Reviews

Dying is Easy #1 (of 5) by Joe Hill, Martin Simmonds

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blrobin2's review against another edition

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fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

Joe Hillström King has his father's knack for writing dialogue for people of color.

tasharobinson's review against another edition

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3.0

Not my favorite of the Joe Hill derived graphic novels, maybe because the protagonist, Syd, is such a wearying type — a cynical, hard-bitten former detective turned not-very-good comedian who walks through life with a kind of cloud of resentment and failure around him, and turns too many of his interactions into bristling fights. There's certainly a kind of humor in the way he's drawn into trying to solve a murder where he's the most likely suspect, but the Fugitive-style "honest man on the run with no resources and every hand turned against him" plot has been done a lot, and in this case I found it hard to hook into, with both the victim and the protagonist being such seedy, unpleasant types, and their world being so one-note.

It feels like this all takes place in Noirworld, where everyone's on the take, there are no decent people, and it really does seem likely that everybody else in this graphic novel ganged up to kill the victim Orient Express style because no one could possibly like or support such an unrepentantly awful human being. I just had a hard time maintaining any interest in who left the guy dead when it was so obvious that anyone who interacted with him would want to kill him — given the Clue-style "Here's who did it — wait, no, here's who ACTUALLY did it" wrapup, it honestly seems like the eventual solution was just arbitrary, and could have been picked with a dartboard.

wesleyrose's review

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2.0

Syd Homes is a cop turned comedian in the first issue of Dying is Easy. His cop career ended when a mentally-ill woman killed herself, some say due to his convincing. His set goes poorly, and we see a young up and coming comedian deliver a great set while the other comedians discuss his joke stealing. Syd decides to teach Carl a lesson and beats him up, but unfortunately for Syd carl ends up dead the next morning and Syd is suspect #1.

I’m not crazy about this comic. I found the dialogue was a little dry, and it didn’t pick up plot-wise until the last few pages. I like the illustration, and the watercolour looks beautiful on the page. I’m going to read the second one when it is released and see if it’s any better.

ecote525's review against another edition

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3.0

2.5 stars. just an ok crime noir. expected more from Joe Hill. Also...is Carl Dixon a sly reference/insult to Dane Cook...Because if it is, then extra star!

spiffysarahruby's review against another edition

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4.0

Dark humor and a crime to solve--this was excellent.

ktxx22's review against another edition

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2.0

Like a 2.5. A hard boiled detective graphic novel. It’s pretty offensive in some parts. And far fetched in others. It’s just meh Story telling and the ending I didn’t like. That final twist was blah.