Deathrage #3: Retail Edition is a comic written by Murphey and Aaron Sparrow with illustrations by Emiliano Urdinola and colors by Gaston Zubeldia. Deathrage attempts to relax while waiting for Fire Kiss to return but some old friends decide to pay him an unexpected visit. This issue has a focus on violence while also giving us important information on the characters within. Our leading man is Deathrage, a mercenary who used to work for the Spartans but now this his own thing while wearing a helmet that belonged to someone else. He is still surrounded by a cast of three women but they have less of a presence this time around. Those ladies are Fire Kiss, Candy, and Marla. The story begins with Deathrage doing recon while waiting for Fire Kiss and things swiftly descend into chaos. In the midst of all the violence we will get some scenes that provide context and expand on characters. The violence here is very gory. People will be in pieces. The pacing is steady outside of the action scenes. The intensity seems to be above-average but Deathrage almost makes it seem like just another day. The dialogue is full of jokes and quips and is mostly conversational. Now wordy pages here, though the amount of text bubbles on some might make it seem that way. This is a very violent “calm before the storm” issue that gives us teasers leading into the next installment.

            This is high-detail art style that does a great of bring life to the various environments. This is a story that takes place at night so most of the colors are dark in tone but we will see some brighter ones. The main location of this story is a low-end Las Vegas motel and it looks exactly like you’re imagining it. We get a lot of different expressions here from many different people but they are mostly anger and determination due to this being a violent issue. Deathrage still has the electronically emoting mask but the others have unique faces that display looks well. The details in the faces and bodies are very strong from creases and wrinkles to scars and hair. The weapon variance here is high as you’ll see tire irons, whips, and knives. The action scenes are easy to follow but might be hard to look at. Things get very gory form the start and you will limbs part ways and guts spill like milk. This is not for those with weak stomachs. The outfits here might be based on magicians as the men are dressed in suits and the women are dressed in leotards with bear ears.

            When you compare this with the Kickstarter Edition this one has massive dialogue changes on every single page which results in Deathrage being a different character than before. I personally believe this is for the better because while I liked him before this new version seems to be more mindful and less of a loose cannon. We also get some more reasoning behind his actions. The art is also more polished, though that may just be because I have a physical edition. There is a new page here.

“Is this worth reading?”

Yes.

“Would I like this?”

If you like violent stories starring a man who is full of jokes and involving a shady organization this is for you.

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

R. Blood and gore.

“Could I get a quote from the comic?”

“And all of you have about two minutes left to live. At best.”

 

Physical Link: https://mercpublishing.com/products/2022-deathrage-3-cover-a-alessandro-micelli?_pos=3&_sid=db65a2ed0&_ss=r

Digital Link: https://mercpublishing.com/products/deathrage-3-pdf-download?_pos=2&_sid=db65a2ed0&_ss=r

Unboxing Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09BtikvJjwY

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

Probably Contains Spoilers

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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 21

Violent Pages: 10, for 48% 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 – 4

“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.”