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Dying is Easy HC
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Story: Joe Hill
Art: Martin Simmonds
Color Assist: Dee Cunniffe
Letters: Shawn Lee

With popular series like Locke and Key and NOS4A2 well-received and already adapted for the screen, writer Joe Hill has garnered a reputation for well-plotted, painstakingly detailed storytelling. His effort in collaboration with Martin Simmonds on this new Dying is Easy Hardcover release proves no different, delivering a grimy genre narrative replete with all the twists and turns we’ve come to expect from a hardboiled detective story, for better or worse.  As much as I love the idea of a tough-talking anti-hero with a heart of gold taking out the trash, I cannot say I am entirely thrilled with how Dying is Easy shakes out. Simmonds’s dark, almost malignant renderings deliver a sense of squalid mania that I do not think Hill ever really aspired to in this particular tale, which is a shame. I would have liked to see the curtains match the drapes here. 

As with many detective stories, we begin with protagonist Syd Homes rather down on his luck as an ex-cop turned struggling stand-up comic. Not quite affectionately known as “Sh*t-Talk” by friends and uniformed detractors alike, it is not long before Syd finds himself on the wrong side of a homicide investigation surrounding the death of an up-and-coming rival comedian. Relying on his wits and some preternaturally astute observations, Syd gradually starts piecing together a convoluted frame-up for the murder. With law enforcement closing in around him, Syd hurls himself, often literally, into harm’s way to prove not only his innocence but to insolate the wrongfully accused in his hunt for the truth.

What generally opens as a very grounded noir-lite thriller veers openly into parody with some unnecessarily over the top action sequences. At times Syd Comes across like an even more downtrodden, though not quite as homicidal, Joe Hallenbeck a la The Last Boyscout. A protracted attempt to soften him up and punch up the humor early-on in the form of Syd’s stand-up routine left me cold, but once the ball gets rolling on all the genuine intrigue and obfuscation, Hills talent for interwoven machinations comes to the fore.  Then again, it is rather rare to find a glimpse of a character’s psyche displayed so unpretentiously as viewing Syd’s vain catharsis on stage. He uses the time to punish himself as much as he uses it to vent his frustrations at a world that has long since forgotten to give a shit what he thinks. I think there is quite a bit more juice in this tank, and I’d like to see where Syd and Co. head next.    

Christian Davenport
cable201@comicattack.net