Die #2

Die #2

by Kieron Gillen

"FANTASY HEARTBREAKER," Part Two

Remember last time, when we said "Goth Jumanji?" As the bleak, austere fantasy-horror ramps up, we start underlining the word "Goth" in black marker until we cut a hole through the page.

Genres: Comics, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Graphic Novels Comics, Horror, Fiction, Comic Book

32 pages, Paperback

About the author

Kieron Gillen is a comic book writer and former media journalist.

Reviews

[Heidi Wiechert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now that the main characters from Die, Vol. 1: Fantasy Heartbreaker are back in the fantasy gaming world of Die, they are struggling to make their way back to the real world.

Part of that struggle involves delving into the past and decisions made by their teenage selves. There are lost loves, old enemies and even a few descendants to contend with- not to mention old hurts that they've carried for years between members of their own party.

Which is a particular problem for our intrepid heroes. They all have to agree that they want to leave Die in order to do just that. And they don't all want to leave anymore.

Like most sequels, at least in my experience, the follow up to the first issue wasn't as strong. Now that readers are in the character development section of the story, action moves a little slower and it reads less like a fantasy adventure and more like a drama.

I think the character with the most potential for growth is Ash, the Dictator, who is a man in the real world, but a woman in the world of Die, and controls people's emotions with her voice. But all of the movers and shakers in this drama have some growing to do.

There's Ash's sister Angela who plays a cyberpunk named Neo. In order to power her electronics, she uses 'fair gold', something which readers get to learn a little more backstory about in this issue.

My favorite character is Matt, the Grief Knight, whose power is fueled by his depression and despair. Of everyone in this story, I'm rooting for him to get home the most because of the unshakable love and devotion he has for his family.

He's also, I think, the most relatable of the group. Who among us hasn't felt the sting of the pain and sadness that life occasionally dishes up and wishes for a way to harness that power for the greater good?

In this issue, readers get to learn about the origins of Matt's magical sword, the outer representation of that inner voice that whispers to him about his failings and secret anxieties.

We also brush on the mysteries of Sol's resurrection, Chuck's astounding conflict avoidance and the awesome extent, as well as limitations, of Isabelle's godbinding powers.

I'm interested to see where the story goes next. Highly recommended for readers who enjoy fantasy and horror-tinged graphic novels.

[Emily Duncan]

i feel the same way i felt when i read the wicked + the divine: incandescent with rage that it is not me writing this. this is brilliant.

[Liz (Quirky Cat) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been looking forward to the release of this issue. Die #1 was an interesting introduction, but I really had no idea how they were planning on following it up. Die #2 read differently, but that’s mainly because they couldn’t use the same storytelling techniques as before.
This issue showed us more of the roleplaying world that they had been lost in for so long. It was just about as dark as they implied. They used a personal tale and perspective to really drive that point home though – that’s what really hooked me into this series. The clever use of storytelling styles alone is enough to keep me coming back for the next issue.
The artwork was absolutely beautiful (again) but honestly, that’s no surprise to me. One of my favorite artists is working on it, so I expect to see beautiful works!
I think the only thing I would have liked was a quick page or panel reminding me which character was playing well…which character. They had a page explaining all the rpg characters, but not the humans behind them. I didn’t have any trouble following along or anything like that, but not being able to be positive about who was who bugged me. I’m going to have to go back and take a peek at the first issue again.

[RG · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is just sublime..pure perfection. Artwork, plotting world building..amazing.

[Quintin Zimmermann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whilst the visual feast may please thine eye, the narrative is mired by peculiar direction.

Began with such sweet promise, now hold fast for course correction.

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know why I still get surprised when Kieron Gilles does it again. After reading The Wic + The Div I should expect the original fantasy world, the unspeakable mysterious aura and complex characters. And yet I am still impressed.
The first issue intrigued me and had me wondering what he has in store for his readers.
The second one convinced me I am going to be on the edge of my seat for each issue that is to come.


P.S. The epilogue on how he planned out each character and the role in the game is so interesting. It really says a lot about his thought process and the research and planning that goes into this.

[Jesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty fucking great. The art is completely gorgeous. The ideas are interesting, and the backmatter essay on the worldbuilding was very fun. I'm getting a feel for the characters. Very interested to see where this goes. I kind of hope that the entire book isn't in the fantasy world, I'd love some flashbacks or back-at-the-ranch sequences of the real world. But who knows at such an early junction. I'm really enjoying this series so far.

[David(LA,CA) · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first issue of this series was all set up. It pretty much covered the promo used to sell the book. A group of kids go missing, transported to a fantasy world. Most of them return, and we see them after the experience. It isn't until this issue where we get to start seeing the elements of the fantasy world they visited, and the roles they played there.

I'm having a bad feeling about this.

Sometimes, people who play RPGs use them as outlets for things that aren't good. They have a bad day/week at work/school, they go hang out with their friends to play their game, and they're looking for a way to blow off steam. They may slaughter enemies without mercy, abuse people that have somehow annoyed them, lie/cheat/steal their way to power, and possibly even worse things. And then when the game is over, they get to walk away from the table without any real world consequences to their fantasy world behavior.

This is a book where decades after they "walked away from the table", the players are being pulled back into the fantasy world where their previous behavior will have consequences.

I'm not going to say this is a bad book. I'm going to say that this is leaning very heavily towards not for me. Like I prefer to do with all new books, I'll probably stick around until the end of the first story arc/trade. I'm not likely to stick around for more after that.

[Štěpán · Rating 4 out of 5]

I imagine, that second issues are maybe harder than the first ones. The characters were established, you should know the general feeling of first 5-6 issues and it is time to progress the story. And that is exactly what Gillen does and doesn't.

The structure is the same but feels different. At the same time we get a nice credit page with characters and their dice. This break the narrative itself as I feel it cuts the Die world and our reality. We few lines of dialogue and right away we're thrown to the action.

Action is here made as you'd expect. It is fantasy epic. At the same time it is D&D. If you want power you have to fulfill some kind of condition, make a sacrifice or be a really good motherfucker at cutting down orcs. Characters have their own individual powers and are visible different of each other that it is a joy to see them fight in various ways.

Stephanie's art is still gorgeous. Her drawings are really different than anything other in comics now. But what makes her art shine are colors. Aesthetics of this world are brought to life with read, whine, brown, white and black. I love the usage of colors. When Ash is 'casting' a spell, there is a great moment that is just superb.

The world is being hinted at and it is a large, gigantic 20 sides die with different 'world' in every side. It is cool to see this via someone who went there when it was different, fresh and now it is more corrupted, pale and torn.

It is really cool, story has mystery, it has 'written by Gillen' all over it, art is captivating and interesting. I'll read next. I'm hooked.

[Matt Vella · Rating 4 out of 5]

The promise and potential Die #1 established started delivery with Die #2.

First, the artwork is outstanding. Water-color vibes all around, and a strong use of color.

Second, many of the interviews Gillen did between 1 and 2 mentioned his desire to investigate the underdeveloped side of RPGs, where you don't think about the psychological and far-reaching results of your actions as a player. I really enjoyed those confrontations in this issue, and it forced me to think about how I frame these situations in my own games. With any RPG, time starts when the main characters enter the scene and effectively stops once they leave. The world-building (another fantastic element in this series!) only happens within these snapshots. And, unless the party returns, we never see the repercussions from their behavior. It reads as a basic conceit, but in Gillen's hands it's an outstanding issue to a series I'm extremely excited to invest time into.

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the second issue, Gillen and Hans introduce readers to the fantasy world of Die as the players return to the old world. While the first issue had a few hints that this wasn't going to be your grandma's game of D&D, this issue is where it starts to get very dark. There's a lot more hints of what the character roles really do and a rather disturbing scene where the past comes back to bite Ash. So far, this is one of my new favorite dark fantasy series and I'd highly recommend it if you are okay with some less than sunshine and roses type storytelling.

[Sans · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have never played an rpg in my life and have no idea what is happening.

[Sibel Rac · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5
I kinda miss the kids, but this is going to be good too!

[G · Rating 1 out of 5]

The story is interesting enough but to me going through the awfully written dialogue and narration, as it’s the only way of knowing what happens next, feels like torture.

[Chris Thompson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Beautiful artwork. Nonsensical story.

[Stacy · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's super frustrating to have a pile of 20 comics I'm striving to read in a night, and I spend extra time going over an essay that Kieron Gillen wrote because I'm super interested in the subject matter. It was not really a choice, though, after Gillen gave us the intriguing classes that our characters are back to playing. The cyberpunk rogue? That's so cool! Grief knight?! I want to play a grief knight! Bear cleric (bear-ic?) on the cover? That art alone is to die for (pun intended).

The world building is just brilliant because I've never had these ideas before and now I want more of them. If such ideas are transmitted through a comic book fantasy/horror? That's a win.

45.75/50

[Liesl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well this series keeps getting better and better. In a rare departure from form, I've refused to wait for the trade edition to follow this series, which says a lot about how desperate I am to know what happens. The author's notes are worth the price of admission too, this month's one focusing on why the different dice were chosen for each character.

As a hardcore D&D player, "Die" inevitably caught my imagination. There's a lot in here that's comfortingly familiar to me from my own campaigns. Not just the fantasy references, though. The whole concept of a group of heroes being put through hell, the game master a friend of their's who they'll have to convince to leave the imaginary world they've all built together...It's beautiful and painful and I can't get enough of it. I can't wait to see more how the classes work too: grief knight and the dictator have immediately caught my interest, simply because of the inherent pain in how they work, but there's plenty of good stuff to come with the others too.

[Alan D.D. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aunque tiene una ligera dosis de acción, es una historia sencilla y no muy movida. Conocemos los poderes de cada personaje (salvo los de Sol) y damos una pequeña mirada a lo que podría haber pasado antes de su regreso al mundo real. La interacción entre los personajes es más natural que en el primer número, pero más allá del arte no termina de convencerme.

Although it has a slight dose of action, it is a simple story and not very active. We discover the powers of each character (except Sol's) and we take a small look at what could have happened before their return to the real world. The interaction between the characters is more natural than in the first issue, but beyond art it doesn't convince me.

[Marisa Carpico · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great job of establishing the world and what everyone can do. Can’t wait to hear Dominic/Ash talk more about their identity probably 10 issues from now. The thing I most appreciated here was the backmatter, which gave an RPG novice like me the information needed to understand the way the comic is structured and also blew my mind with how deeply Gillen thinks about everything. Will keep me going while I still don’t quite connect to this on a nostalgia or knowledge level.

[kaitlphere · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm so glad when world-building books like this have back matter. Knowing where Gillen pulled his ideas from and how he put them together just makes this story that much richer.

This is my first real experience with Stephanie Hans' art and I am blown away. The color choices in this book are phenomenal. The use of polyhedral suggestions in the art is inspired. There are certain panels I would like to have expanded and put on my wall.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Die #2 appeals to RPG fans by quickly diving into a demonstration of what each unique character type can do. Am I the only one that thinks Isabelle’s character is a little cheesy? (As in overpowered, not corny.) She does the bulk of the heavy lifting in this issue.

If you’ve never played an RPG, this might not appeal to you. A lot of the story is driven by the mechanics of the game.

[Fae Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Continuing on from issue 1, this issue focuses on the players interacting with Sol and realising how twisted he's become. They also discuss how they are going to continue to play, and which way they are going to take in order to reach Sol's lane in Twenty. The scene with the corpse made my skin crawl a bit.

[Monita Roy Mohan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ash and his friends are confronted by their past in the world of DIE, in the second issue of the Image Comics series about an RPG game gone bad.

Read my full review at BamSmackPow.

[John Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still intense from ep.1 but a little less..

I like where this is going but the development of characters and the unveiling of the world elements slowed down of the feelings I got from the first issue.

[Cristina Murillo Muela · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn´t a conversation. This is the sort of monologue you run in your head with lovers you´ll never speak to again.

Esto sigue siendo muy oscuro, muy gore, muy chulo y muy raro.

[Catherine Doherty · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was less interested in this issue which disappointed me a lot. Hope it picks up next issue.

[Stergios · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not getting better. The only interesting part was near the end with the cursed knight. I still don't like the art and the characterization is problematic. I'm dropping it...

[Mira · Rating 5 out of 5]

No doubt in my mind I'd be rolling death saving rolls thirty minutes into a game like this. Brutal and everything to play for can't wait for issue 3.

[Tobias Asplund · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fuck yes.

[Maurício Dantas · Rating 3 out of 5]

A história muda o tom nessa edição, com a mudança de mundo. A arte favorece alguns aspectos no mundo de fantasia, mas ainda incomoda demais a falta de narrativa visual da artista.