Decay #1 is comic written by Anthony Stokes with illustrations by Marcelo Oliveira. Two friends attempt to get more eyes on their drinks business by selling them at a house party. This is a comic with supernatural elements and violence. The main men for this comic are DK and Marcus, they are friends who have a drink-making business and they are in need of more publicity. DK has a sister named Jess and she works at a mortuary. The story starts with a flashback before bringing us to the present where DK tastes and gives his opinion on one of Marcus’ new concoctions. Afterwards DK goes and meets with his sister at their parents’ graves. This story seems to take place in or around New Orleans. There is a theme of loss here. The action here is very bloody with gruesome moments. The pacing is steady with an overall lighthearted tone that can get serious. The intensity rises as the situations turn dangerous. The dialogue is all conversations with a lot of back-and-forth. There are no word-heavy pages here. This is a debut comic that focuses on setting the scene while giving us a decent look at the characters in an interesting story.

            The art here is drawn in a slightly rough modern style with a decent amount of detail and shading. The color range is both wide and realistic with a good variety page-by-page. Aside from a few glimpses of the sky most of this comic takes place indoors so there isn’t much in the way of scenery. While the main location is the house where the party takes place we’ll also visit DK and Marcus’ place, a mortuary, and a cemetery. The backgrounds usually show the surroundings of the scene but there are a decent number of gradient colors with optional action lines. The expression level here is around average as we do get different looks but seem a bit effortless. The emotional range is mostly between somber and sadness with some angrier and fearful ones as well. The faces have enough detail for every expression to come across clearly but some of them look near identical. The bodies sometimes have fluctuating/odd proportions. The violence here is very bloody and involves firearms with some gruesome moments. The action scenes are short but the aftermath is lengthy.

“Is this worth reading?”

Yes.

“Would I like this?”

If you like stories that take place in the South with supernatural elements and that stars Black people then this is for you.

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

R. Violence, blood.

“Could I get a quote from the comic?”

“I make sure everyone looks good on their last day.”

 

Physical Link: https://decaycomicbook.bigcartel.com/product/decay-issue-1

Digital Link: https://decaycomicbook.bigcartel.com/product/decay-issue-1-pdf

Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/decay/decay-issue-1-a-supernatural-thriller/description

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

Probably Contains Spoilers

*
*
*
*
*

Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 28

Violent Pages: 3, for 11% 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 – 3

“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 – 4

“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 – 3

“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.”