Deathrage #5 is a comic with the plot by Murphey and Aaron Sparrow and illustrated by Emiliano Urdinola with colors by Lucas Urrutia. Deathrage is in a peculiar spot as he must battle foes in the real world and in his head. This is a very violent and revealing issue as motivations and past deeds are laid bare in the midst of fights. Our leading man is Deathrage/Mark, a man who started out as a Spartan bodyguard but he now finds himself listening to the voices in his head. Returning with him is Fire Kiss and returning to oppose him is Candy. There are a couple other characters making a reappearance that you’ll be surprised to see. The plot begins where the last one ended; which was in the middle of a very intense scene. The huge moment notwithstanding, what really drives this story are the character interactions. Any confusion you might have had about these people gets cleared up(for the most part) here. Though there are plenty of jokes and sarcastic remarks the air of seriousness remains. This comic takes its time and doesn’t rush through anything important so it almost plays out like a movie. No wordy pages here and because most of it is conversational it reads faster. While the last installment was a bit on the calmer side this penultimate issue brings the excitement and violence while showing us some of their true colors.

            The art here is very detailed with a good range of colors. There isn’t too much in the way of scenery because this story takes place in a courtyard with a fountain as its centerpiece. It is raining however and is very noticeable and persists throughout the panels. And the backgrounds tend to be present and accounted for in the majority of panels. The emotions here are very high and the expressions show it. With all the detail in the faces down to the wrinkles around the eyes and creases around the mouth, these characters are great at conveying emotion. The wide range of emotions on display make what happens hit just a bit harder. The way the rain bounces off their bodies and pours down their faces is a nice touch. The action here is very bloody with slicing, gun shots, and regular assault. It does get pretty gory here. Because of the way moments are broken down in this comic the fight scenes are very easy to follow. The outfits here are either skintight or furry.

“Is this worth reading?”

Yes.

“Would I like this?”

If you like stories starring a very confused superhero with a cast full of women(not like that) while containing some supernatural elements and lots of violence and quips this is for you.

“What would this comic’s film rating be?”

R. Lots of blood, gore, it kinda brings to mind some scenes from Kill Bill.

“Could I get a quote from the comic?”

“Kicking you around isn’t quite as fun as I’d hoped.”

 

Physical Link: https://mercpublishing.com/products/deathrage-5-cover-b-tristarr?_pos=2&_sid=56b5405a6&_ss=r

Digital Link: https://mercpublishing.com/products/deathrage-5-pdf-download?_pos=4&_sid=56b5405a6&_ss=r

Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mercmagazine/deathrage-5-special-edition/description

Unboxing Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7egw00uz5tI

***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***

Probably Contains Spoilers

*
*
*
*
*

Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 20

Violent Pages: 13, for 65% of the comic

Sexy Pages: 0, for 0% of the comic

 

**The levels below aren’t necessarily maintained throughout the whole comic, but they were definitely reached**

 

Violence Level – 4

“Wasn’t no tussling at all.”

“Sometimes you gotta hit somebody.”

“I’m getting charged with how many counts of assault?”

“This was a tournament arc.”

“All my life I had to fight.”

 

Gore Level – 5

“The only thing leaking out your face is tears.”

“Looks like somebody spilled some ketchup.”

“Might need to soak that up with a bath towel.”

“That isn’t supposed to be outside the body.”

“This is a slaughterhouse.”

 

Death Level – 2

“And everybody lived happily ever after.”

“We might have gone to a couple funerals.”

“It just LOOKS like a serial killer was here.”

“Yeah this was a tragedy.”

“Think Gettysburg.”

 

Porn Level – 1

“Everybody kept their clothes on.”

“I guess it was too hot for a bra.”

“Sometimes you got to let everything air out.”

“This is like late night Cinemax in the early 2000’s.”

“Oh. This is porn.”