Dead Lucky #10 Review

 

Writer: Melissa Flores

Artist: French Carlomagno

Colorist: Mattia Iacono

Letterer: Becca Carey

Cover Artists: French Carlomagno; Stefano Simeone

Publisher: Image

Price: $3.99

Release Date: November 8, 2023

 

When Morrow personnel tried to apprehend Pyre, he turned Fisherman’s Wharf into a warzone. Bibi brought her Ghost Squad to stop the fighting, but someone activated an Artificial Intelligence Destruction protocol. This command authorizes lethal force. Bibi and Pyre stand back-to-back as the Morrowbots close in. Can they withstand the robots’ attack? Let’s charge into Dead Lucky #10 and find out!

 

Story

Jimmi Morrow promised to make the streets of San Francisco safe. But after six months, the curfew remains in place. With the Morrowbots deploying deadly force, the Mayor wants to cancel Morrow’s contract. Jimmi’s assistant has run the company since he contracted a fatal illness. Korin tries to get his advice, but he's withdrawn into himself. Until his laboratory can replicate the mysterious substance that empowered Bibi and Pyre, Jimmi can't be bothered.

 

As for Bibi and Pyre, they’re taking the fight to the Morrowbots. After Pyre’s buddy Stoker fell amid the fight, Bibi pulled him out of harm’s way. But Pyre doesn’t care how much chaos he unleashes. He would raze San Francisco to watch Morrow burn. Unfortunately, Bibi’s problems grow when someone activates a second A. I. D.

 

In Dead Lucky #10, Melissa Flores weaves a large cast in an intricate dance. Some characters—like Bibi, Maria, and Valentine—are so complex it's hard to know what they want at any given moment. Others—like Stoker and Bibi's Salvation Gang team—seem superfluous. Like its predecessor, the tightly packed installment delivers a mix of drama and excitement. If the series must end with issue 12, it seems likely to go out with a bang!

 

Art

French Carlomagno fills panels with attractive characters in realistic settings. Some panels could speak more clearly, such as when Bibi cares for Stoker. As one panel features a member of the Salvation Gang, it seems the team survived its mission in Jordan. Hooray! Some changes between panels seem abrupt, such as when Pyre stands alone on a roof looking in one direction. In the next panel, Stoker stands by his side, the men face a different direction, and another character has appeared nearby. The biggest plus in Dead Lucky #10 is the robots. In addition to the elegant, feminine civilian robots, this issue introduces a muscular, masculine model that oozes meanness.

 

Mattia Iacono’s vibrant colors energize action scenes and celebrate San Francisco’s thriving artistic community. The fluorescent coloring salutes a city as striking and unique as the uniform Georgia designed for Bibi.

 

Dead Lucky #10 features uppercase black letters in white dialogue balloons with adequate spacing between lines. Red-letter robot utterances are small but rare. Big blue block letters announce location changes. Becca Carey’s sound effects enhance battles while never drawing attention away from those who struggle to keep the peace or merely stay alive.

 

Final Thoughts

When a billionaire loses interest in his technological empire, someone transforms his creations into soulless killers in Dead Lucky #10.

 

8.8/10

 

For another awesome cover see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

Dead Lucky #9 Review

 

Writer: Melissa Flores

Artist: French Carlomagno

Colorist: Mattia Iacono

Letterer: Becca Carey

Cover Artists: Rod Reis

Publisher: Image

Price: $3.99

Release Date: September 27, 2023

 

Georgia has fielded reporters' questions since news leaked of Team Dead Lucky's demise. She can't even enjoy her morning workout or coffee without interruption. Have reports of Bibiana’s death been greatly exaggerated? Let’s charge into Dead Lucky #9 and find out!

 

Story

Her former friend Ghost spent the last issue convincing Bibiana that he hadn’t died. Instead, he survived the helicopter crash that ended her military career. In Dead Lucky #9, he spends more time convincing her that he survived. Only he doesn’t go by Ghost anymore. “Call me Pyre,” he insists.

 

At Morrow Corporation headquarters, Bibi braves Valentine’s ire. The company executive threatens to throw her in prison for not reporting in. But that doesn’t stop Georgia—the woman who designed Bibi’s suit--from welcoming her back home.

 

Does Bibi realize Pyre followed her home? Her reactions in San Francisco suggest surprise. Yet the final scene in Jordan suggests accord. At Fisherman's Wharf, Pyre and the masked mercenary Stoker are up to no good. Unlike Bibiana, they make no bones about taking down Morrow. The company’s peacekeeping robots seem as good a place as any to start.

 

After extending a conversation that should have finished in the last issue, Dead Lucky #9 still fails to explain what happened to Bibi’s team in Jordan. We haven’t seen them since issue #7. Did Pyre capture or kill them? Bibi suffered from PTSD after losing her special forces team. Yet she hasn't mentioned her former Salvation Gang soldiers for two issues.

 

Aside from her current teammates, Dead Lucky #9 fails to address a significant plot point involving her failed mission and Jimmi Morrow. The issue also mentions an ongoing character without reminding readers of her significance. Still, Melissa Flores excels when delving into Bibi's relationships and ends her story with a spectacular battle.

 

Art

Aside from the first few pages, French Carlomagno’s art provides compelling portraits of characters in realistic settings. Varied camera angles add interest and the streets of San Francisco beckon. Clad in their superhero suits, Bibi and Pyre have tremendous appeal. Perhaps some character movements look wooden, and a snapped cellphone image needed better resolution. Still, the climactic battle involving humans and robots crackles with power.

 

Mattia Iacono makes a strong case for why readers should pick up Dead Lucky #9. Vibrant colors energize action scenes and draw readers into drama. The nuanced coloring adds interest even to the occasional scene lacking backgrounds.

 

Becca Carey carries readers through Dead Lucky #9 with uppercase black letters in white dialogue balloons. Exchanges between the robots appear as white letters in a red field or red letters in white ones. Sound effects are employed sparingly but rarely missed.

 

Final Thoughts

After a friend’s return from the dead rocks Bibiana’s world, he threatens to destroy everything she’s worked for in Dead Lucky #9.

 

Rating 8.6/10

 

To show Dispatch how much you enjoy my writing see my review at Comic Book Dispatch!

Dead Lucky #8 Review

 

Writer: Melissa Flores

Artist: French Carlomagno

Colorist: Mattia Iacono

Letterer: Becca Carey

Cover Artists: French Carlomagno; Matthew Johnson

Publisher: Image

Price: $3.99

Release Date: August 23, 2023

 

The Morrow Corporation sent Bibiana and her team to rescue a scientist. Instead, the masked mercenary Pyre captured her makeshift team of former gang members. When the fire-wielding soldier-for-hire removed his mask, she saw the face of a fallen member of her Special Forces team. But how can he be alive when Bibiana communes with his spirit? Let's charge into Dead Lucky #8 and find out!

 

Story

Last year, while guarding classified cargo in Jordan, Bibiana’s teammates died. Diagnosed with P.T.S.D. and honorably discharged, she returned to San Francisco. Instead of resuming life in the city she remembered, Bibiana used her strange, new superpowers to prevent Morrow from ruling her hometown. After that battle ended in disaster, Bibiana agreed to work for the technology giant in return for amnesty and positions within the company for her and her allies.

 

Bibiana’s ability to channel electricity seems linked to the spirits of her fallen team. Foremost among those is Ghost, who she named her first robot after. She often spoke with him while fighting Morrow. Now Ghost stands before her, seemingly resurrected, and hurls rivulets of fire at her. So with whose empowering spirit does she speak if Ghost still lives? Were the psychologists right: is she merely suffering from P.T.S.D.? If so, where do Bibiana's superpowers come from?

 

Meanwhile, former S.F.P.D. officer Maria updates Ms. Valentine on security operations. Her plea to lift Morrow's curfew gets interrupted when Ms. Korin arrives. Once again, Jimmi Morrow's secretary is rescheduling Valentine's appointment with the company C.E.O. Then Korin tells them that Bibi’s gone missing, and Morrow’s best technology can’t find her.

 

Art

After the highly detailed art in earlier issues, French Carlomagno’s work looks less polished in Dead Lucky #8. Fuzzy soldiers, sparse interiors, and tents and buildings in the Jordanian desert can't compare with lively districts, stately structures, and San Francisco's cultural and ethnic diversity. The story features fewer characters and no robots—humanoid or canine—or flying drones. Still, Bibi's scenes crackle with power: her confrontation with Ghost—and memories of their final mission—electrify.

 

Mattia Iacono delivers her usual mix of energetic colors to Dead Lucky #8. The Jordanian desert, interiors, and memories benefit from a loaded palette of intense colors. The sophisticated blend of florescent hues mixes with colorful shading to sustain this series' eye-catching appeal.

 

Writer Melissa Flores dishes out the dialogue in Dead Lucky #8, and letterer Becca Carey delivers. Uppercase black letters file into white balloons, and their orderly arrangement is easy to follow. Big white words locate us in time and space, and sound effects heighten confrontations with concussive force.

 

Final Thoughts

A revelation rocks Bibiana’s understanding of her superpowers when her last mission returns to haunt her in Dead Lucky #8.

 

Rating 8.6/10

 

For another cover see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.