Tuesday 8 October 2013

So what the hell's in Death Sentence anyway?

Firstly you get this striking cover. There are five to choose from (see the post below). I paint them myself because I'm really, really cheap.


Next we decided to break a few rules and play with the narrative conventions of sequential time and space by putting page 1 at the very start. I know - it's unorthodox but that's the kind of crazy experimental shit that goes down in a Death Sentence comic. You've no sooner opened the comic than Bam! - we hit you right between the eyes with Verity's predicament. If you find a better page 1 in any comic this year I'd love to read it.



Next up are 22 pages of beautiful artwork from Mike Dowling. People have compared his stuff to Jock and Sean Phillips but he's very much his own man and delivers on all fronts: quiet moments of character acting, moody establishing shots, epic pages of dynamic action. He really knows how to tell a story and his art just gets better and better with every page. I'm looking at issue 6 right now and his development blows my mind. And it's not like these first pages aren't beautiful...


It's a hell of a story - going to places most comics wouldn't dream of. If you like your comics funny, innovative and teeming with action you won't be disappointed. There's also real heart, lyricism and beauty to be found - deeper themes that emerge as each issue develops. And we don't stop with the story itself. Every issue is bursting with supporting material fleshing out the world, like this I-pad news story about Weasel. 


Then we've got 'Making Comics: A Practical Guide.' It's a 17000 word textbook on the creative and practical challenges of making your own comic and getting it published. According to one review it's "worth the entire value of the comic."


The Guide's serialised over the first five issues of Death Sentence, and it's teeming with behind the scenes artwork and insights into the comic book business. (Issue 6 is a bonus 30 page edition that wraps the comic up in style.) It's full of the stuff most creators don't talk about. 


'Making Comics' was a lot of fun to write and takes as long to read as the comic itself. The Guide will never be reprinted elsewhere - you will only ever find it in these single issues. We're always humbled that anyone takes the time to read our work, so we've gone the extra mile to pack each episode with high value content. 


Finally we end with a glimpse of issue 2. We've got the first five issues wrapped up and we're just tinkering with the explosive finale. This is shipping every month bang on time to your local comic shop and comixology. So if you want to spend the next six months discovering something wonderful - give Death Sentence a whirl.

Cheers,

Monty 

Death Sentence is a 6 issue series by Montynero and Mike Dowling, published monthly by Titan comics from 9 October 2013. Issue #1 and #2 sold out but 5000 reprints or each comic arrive in stores November 20th! You can find a trailer for the comic here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmFa-flzE0I and reviews here: http://montycomics.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/titan-sent-over-doc-with-some-death.html