This review will have spoilers from Issue #1. If you have yet to read the first issue please hold off on reading this review. Issue #2 starts off with Val and Luna in France. At the end of the first issue we discovered that Luna was ‘playing possum’ in a sense. He was pretending to be near death to avoid capture from the forces of evil. At the end of issue #1 Luna also convinced Val to travel with him in order to write his memoir. Ok, well its turned into Val ghostwriting his autobiography.
Val has been travelling around the world with Luna for the last few days. Luna is trying to track down all of his friends and acquaintances that can be witnesses to his awesome life. Unfortunately he’s discovered nothing but a trail of blood. Every person from his past, friend or foe, has been killed by mummy ninjas. Soon there will be no one left to corroborate his amazing tales.
As a person that has awful anxiety when it comes to travelling I can relate to Val quite a bit in this issue. She’s been all over with Luna in search of his former friends that he’s lost touch with. Val wonders if she is just a witness or a sidekick at this point with him. She also worries about her own life as he talks about all the people they encountered that were dead along the way. These people all had roles they played in shaping Luna into the man he is today. AKA spoilers I can’t give away.
The adventures lead Val and Luna to the funeral of one of his past dear friends. When they arrive Luna greets the family. He meets the daughter of the person the funeral is being held for and explains their time together at Area 51. Without spoiling too much the person that has passed only interacted with Luna for 2 weeks of their life. This person moved on to do great things with their life, charity work, had a huge family, and helped a ton of people around the globe. So, Luna talking about all this really pisses off the person’s daughter. As if no other things in this person’s life were important. Luna makes it sound like the only thing that mattered were their 2 weeks together.
I find the confrontation to be pretty funny, but I have a dark sense of humor. The daughter of the lost is livid and goes off on Luna. Before long Val even gets angry with Luna over the story he tells, and warns him that it’s someone’s funeral. Val reminds Luna that the funeral is a way to remember that person’s life, not just a couple of weeks with him. This person is not just the focal point for a chapter in Luna’s life story currently. I can’t say I disagree with Val, Luna acting that way at a funeral was pretty much a dick move.
The tale ends with a ridiculous cliffhanger that I don’t even want to begin spoiling by telling you what happens next. I will tell you that you won’t be disappointed. The humor this issue is very dark and absurd at times. And, I’m sensing a trend that styling of humor will continue which has me pretty excited honestly. I feel like Val has gotten even sassier from the first issue. Something that I really dug about her from the start. But, she’s not taking any of Luna’s shit so she’s establishing herself as a strong character already
I feel like Antonio Luna is pretty out-of-touch with the real world because of his ridiculous adventures. The fact that he doesn’t keep in touch with any friends is a bit jarring. Basically what I got from this issue is that he just kind of meets people on his adventures. Then they do whatever it is Luna needs help with. And, then he moves onto the next person. I hope Val’s story doesn’t end like the rest of Luna’s friends…at a funeral. For Deathbed’s dynamic character development, absurd action sequences, and pitch black dark humor I’m giving this issue gets a high score.
Rating: 8.5/10
