DEAD, SHE SAID #1 by Steven Niles and Bernie Wrightson
© IDW

Mania Grade: A
Comic Series: Dead, She Said
Issue: 1
Authors: Steve Niles, Bernie Wrightson
Publisher: IDW
Price: $3.99

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Comic Review: DEAD, SHE SAID #1

Joe Coogan is dead. The hard-drinking, hard-fighting gumshoe with a list of enemies a mile long wakes up to find his blood and guts all over the bed. Rigor mortis has set in, and he knows that last night’s drunken rampage ended badly. Fortunately, he can still grab a little hair of the dog and a cigarette.  His friend down at the station gives him the description of his assailant—a piece of lowlife, two-bit muscle named Austin “Sticks” Cutlip. Coogan actually likes Cutlip all right, when the loser isn’t trying to kill him for a few bucks. But, something a lot worse than a dead-but-not detective is stalking the woods nearby. The all-American family on a camping trip might want to watch out for something deadly—something that wants more than the burgers they’ve got on the grill. But, they’re not the only ones in for a surprise. Back in the city, Coogan finds something messy at Cutlip’s apartment, and his own problems don’t seem so bad by comparison.

Dead, She Said almost feels like one of writer Steve Niles’s Cal McDonald stories, but Coogan has things a bit nastier. He doesn’t live in a world populated by zombies and monsters, so the very idea of waking up in a pool of his own entrails comes as a bit of a shock. His bewilderment epitomizes the entire first issue of this miniseries, in which Niles throws out several compelling questions with no answers. To that end, the writer takes full advantage of the monthly comic format by leaving the reader not so much with an unfinished story, but a couple of delicious cliffhangers. Waiting for the next issue becomes part of the reading experience. It should be this way, if the monthly format is to have any relevance left at all. Otherwise, it’s just a story chopped into pieces. In that way, Dead, She Said taps into its own pulp-noir roots by ratcheting up the tension with unanswered mysteries. How is Coogan alive? What lurks in the woods nearby? What the hell is that bone-blade thing is Cutlip’s apartment? In the end, this issue’s only shortcoming proves to be its brevity. It simply flies through its 22 pages unapologetically, heading to an ending that makes the reader cry for an answer. It’s the oldest trick in the history of serialized fiction, and it still works.

Bernie Wrightson brings his gritty, life-like art to Dead, She Said, dragging the reader through the gore right alongside Coogan. In fact, he inks his own work in this issue, which is a rarity for the legendary artist. The muted, subdued colors provided by Grant Goleash bleed the comic of any touch of sensationalism. Dead, She Said reminds you that bleeding hurts like hell. The reader won’t cheer for the violence, but only hope that Coogan gets out the series, well, less dead. He certainly won’t get out alive, as the unseen force that stalks the world of Dead, She Said has already taken care of that. This first issue begins a tantalizingly gruesome miniseries by two talented creators—one that takes full advantage of the serialized format in a pulp-noir tale that will appeal to both horror and mystery fans alike.

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