Everything Dead & Dying #2 Review

 

Everything Dead & Dying #2 Review

Writer: Tate Brombal

Artist: Jacob Phillips

Colorist: Pip Martin

Letterer: Aditya Bidikar

Cover Artists: Jacob Phillips; Dani & Jordie Bellaire

Designers: Dylan Todd & Courtney Menard

Editor: Eric Harburn

Publisher: Image Comics

Price: $4.99

Release Date: October 8, 2025

 

Jack struggled with relationships in his youth. He took friends for granted while most of his peers shunned him. When his parents separated, his mother gave him a chance at a different life. But Jack felt lost in the city and returned to the farm his father loved. Jack’s father didn’t love him, and the town he loved didn’t return his affection either. So, Jack devoted himself to becoming the best farmer he could be until Luke came along.

 

When their friend Elizabeth brings Daisy into their lives, the town he loves finally returns Jack’s affection. So, when sickness descends on Caverton, Jack cares for the inhabitants. Jack doesn't know why fate selected him to be their caregiver. Still, he spends each day assisting them. But like the story Jack reads to Daisy every night, each phase of life reaches its end. What happens when strangers visit his town and see Jack tending to zombies? Let’s leap into Everything Dead & Dying #2 and see!

 

Story

Jack's life only works because the zombies adhere to routine. But this morning, Luke and Daisy are disturbed. Jack gets them settled as Stuart arrives, delivering the phantom mail that never arrives since the world went quiet. One moment, Jack is talking with Stuart Jones and imagining his responses. Then, Jack is staring down at the headless corpse of his longtime friend. One of the newcomers, Sam, apologizes for frightening Jack. But Jack senses what's coming. Even though he knows this phase of his life can't continue indefinitely, Jack hides inside his house and shields his undead spouse and child with his body.

 

While Sam Jeffries shepherds his group, not everyone emulates his compassion in Everything Dead & Dying #2. Some seem more interested in what they can get than caring for any survivors they meet. Others view shooting zombies as a game or sport. Colette, who acknowledges Sam’s leadership while ordering the others around, views Jack’s actions from a religious perspective. While Jack feels a duty to the zombies clinging to their last day of life, Colette feels a duty to kill the walking dead. Sam shares Jack’s concerns that the plague is gradually ending life on Earth. But instead of caring for the undead, Sam seeks to build a community to preserve the living.

 

Jack found the strength to carry on by remembering the good times. When a member of Sam’s band shoots his friend in Everything Dead & Dying #2, the thought of losing everyone he loves overwhelms Jack. While remembering why he was drawn to Luke, all the ways he failed Luke come roaring back. Tate Brombal's story reminds us of the difficulties of caregiving and how our insecurities can endanger the relationships we cherish.

 

Art

Sam gestures to calm Jack, but hangs his head as Jack withdraws into the house. Behind him, Zeke, Colette, Ross, Georgia, and Mags mobilize, while Sam keeps his rifle hung on his back. Jacob Phillips' art shows how Stuart's death disturbs the tranquility Jack needs. He struggles to restrain Luke and Daisy. Luke’s former exuberance for society shows as he struggles to reach the newcomers. Or perhaps, the part of Luke that remembers who he was craves an end to his suffering.

 

Pip Martin adorns glimpses of Luke's former vibrancy with pink, yellow, and orange. Blue and purple descend when Jack remembers Luke's sadness and his life force ebbing away. Jack wears a green coat in his memories. As blood and bone splatter his windows, brickwork, and white T-shirt, gray and red fill the inside of Jack's unhappy home in Everything Dead & Dying #2. Yet some of the newcomers who killed his friend and disturbed his family wear green, like the farm Jack loves.

 

Aditya Bidikar places uppercase black letters in beige balloons amid memories and white balloons during Jack's altercation with Sam's people. Jack's narration fills pink narrative boxes with uppercase black letters. Letters shrink for lowered voices and grow bold for intonation. Loud voices swell letters and deform balloons. Slams haunt Jack’s memories and his present, while bangs threaten to end his dreams. Thanks to Image Comics and Tiny Onion for providing a review copy.

 

Final Thoughts

Whether through atonement or love, Jack has cared for the people in his town for twelve years. As he spoke with them like coma patients, he imagined a spark of life still burned inside each of them. Jack nurtured that spark in the hope their consciousness would return.

 

Sam Jeffries' band of survivors comes from the city Jack disdains. All they know of zombies is violence. So, when Sam and his people visit Jack’s home in Everything Dead & Dying #2, they unleash a war of the worldviews. Both sides cherish life. But their definitions of life couldn’t be more different.

 

Rating 9.6/10

 

To look inside see my review at Comic Book Dispatch. 

Everything Dead & Dying #1 Review

 

Writer: Tate Brombal

Artist: Jacob Phillips

Colorist: Pip Martin

Letterer: Aditya Bidikar

Cover Artists: Jacob Phillips, Joshua Hixson, Sean Phillips & Charlie Adlard

Publisher: Image Comics

Price: $4.99

Release Date: September 3, 2025

 

Every night before Jack ushers his daughter off to Dreamland, he tells her a story. As their dog lies at Daisy’s feet, Jack shares his life story. His daughter enjoys hearing about how Jack grew up, met the love of his life, and adopted her. But why does Jack repeat this bedtime ritual? And how does it propel him through his everyday life? Let’s leap into Everything Dead & Dying #1 and see!

 

Story

Jack has a good life now. Or at least that’s what he tells himself. It’s one he had to work hard to achieve. As with anything in life, luck had to shine on him. Many people still shun Jack because of his differences. Still, he inherited his father's farm, nurtured a loving family, and befriended people like postal carrier Stuart, whom he sees every morning. And then there's Elizabeth. Jack owes her a debt of gratitude he can never repay.

 

Despite all that is good in his life, Jack suffers from a recurring nightmare in Everything Dead & Dying #1. He fights relentlessly to banish it. Still, it remains. While sharing Jack’s story and his daily routine, Tate Brombal intersperses the horror Jack endures with the idyllic life he cherishes.

 

In Everything Dead & Dying #1, we glimpse Jack's life out of sequence. What we gradually realize is how desperately Jack is clutching onto what he values. As he works on his farm and cares for his family, Jack also visits and feeds the other residents of his community. Trapped by disease, they repeat their daily routine. Still, Jack cares for them all, even those who scorned him because he seemed so different from them.

 

Art

Jack's spouse and their adoptive daughter glow whenever Jack is near. He cradles Daisy as he kisses her good night. Winding a clockwork duck becomes a morning ritual between them. Family photographs fight for space along the crowded stairway wall. Jack's spouse cooks flapjacks for breakfast, and they eat seated on wooden stools around a kitchen island.

 

Pip Martin adorns Jacob Phillips’ art with a pleasing mix of watercolors. Blue tones paint memories of scorn. Yet red, pink, and purple fight against the black infesting Jack's present. Vibrant green trees frame Jack as he steers his tractor across a gray stone bridge outside his historic hometown. Yet yellow paint drips down tall gray gates, as Jack brakes before towering, barbed-wire-topped brick walls.

 

Aditya Bidikar fills dialogue balloons and narrative boxes with uppercase black letters. Paper scraps contain Jack's narration, while smaller letters float in balloons with slithering arrows. Sounds rock Jack's routine in Everything Dead & Dying #1. Stuart bangs on the door when he brings the mail. The gates creak as Jack enters his farm. A shovel thunks into unforgiving soil. Yet most disturbing are the large words in jagged clouds that are not words at all. Thanks to Image Comics and Tiny Onion for providing a review copy.

 

Final Thoughts

Jack worked hard for the life he wanted. He practiced patience until society changed to accommodate his needs. Life has proved a mercurial mistress in Everything Dead & Dying #1. Still, Jack gives all he has, all the while knowing he may never reclaim what he's lost.

 

Rating 9.6/10

 

For more cover art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch. 

Event Horizon: Dark Descent #1 Review

 

 

Writer: Christian Ward

Artist: Tristan Jones

Colorist: Pip Martin

Letterer: Alex Ray

Editor: Nicolas Niño

Cover Artists: Jeffrey Alan Love, Christian Ward, Martin Simmonds, Joshua Hixson & Rob Carey

Publisher: IDW

Price: $4.99

Release Date: August 20, 2025

 

Dr William Weir isn’t in Hell. But he’s haunted and doesn’t know how to move on. Since his wife’s death, William has dreamed of Claire every night. Somehow, his nightmarish penance inspires him. General Anderson urges him to take time off, but William wants to return to work. Can he correct the problems plaguing the Gravity Drive? And what will happen when they launch the Event Horizon into space? Let’s leap into Event Horizon: Dark Descent #1 and see!

 

Story

Like William, Dr Jennifer Kwan mourns someone she lost. As she gazes out the viewport of the Event Horizon, Jennifer remembers how an argument ruined their relationship. Her friend Nia lightens her spirits and refocuses Jennifer upon the momentous event awaiting them. Jennifer can’t wait to activate Dr William Weir’s Gravity Drive and travel to Proxima Centauri in the blink of an eye.

 

In Event Horizon: Dark Descent #1, William and Jennifer aren’t the only people hurting. As Jennifer and Nia gather for a briefing, death casts a shadow over all of them. But perhaps it’s worst for William, who remains back home. Only it’s not home anymore. Now, it’s a void, an empty place he inhabits when not at work. William regrets how he devoted his life to science instead of sharing it with his wife.

 

In Christian Ward’s story, past and present intermingle. Like anyone who has lost a loved one, William sees his wife daily. Instead of reliving memories, Claire interacts with him, suggesting clues to impasses, and giving him the support he never gave her. Claire urges him to cross the barrier between his realm and hers, so their reunion can be complete.

 

Event Horizon: Dark Descent #1 follows William, Jennifer, and Nia’s journeys as the Event Horizon prepares to fold space. As the crew struggles to cope with the traumas in their past, each will take their private horror into the void. No one suspects how the darkness of this unexplored realm will magnify their fears.

 

Art

Tristan Jones magnifies the brokenness of the characters’ lives with dots, circles, ink blotches, and fragmented lines. Each person’s face becomes a roadmap of grief, or a pin cushion of sorrow. As Jennifer rests her hand on the viewport, a face stares back at her, even after she turns away. Heavily inked hull frames corridors with riblike supports and hanging conduits. The crew works beneath an arched ceiling, where Jennifer and Nia join them. Captain John Kilpack sits at the center of the audience gathered before one arch of the crypt-like room. They regard Jennifer with indifference, boredom, and a hint of fear. Only Nia smiles, her body language demonstrating camaraderie and excitement.

 

Pip Martin contributes a palette of limited colors that enhances the detailed art in Event Horizon: Dark Descent #1. Green, purple, and gray dominate William’s scenes, while red enlivens his horrific thoughts. The blue-gray ship resembles a person leaping into space with a swan dive, the big head staring into the unknown. Beige, blue, and green dominate interior scenes, while the yellow-green light of monitors reflects off the crew and the interior. Pink and red brighten the background and later adorn the foreground of a dramatic confrontation. The red harkens back to when William discovered his wife’s body, and how he sees her now.

 

William shares his thoughts with white uppercase letters in dark-gray boxes. Black uppercase letters fill white dialogue balloons, while Latin words are italicized. Words grow bold for intonation and when introducing crew via light-gray boxes. White block letters locate us in time and space, while sound effects signal ship functions and tragedy. Yet, ever William’s companion and ours, Claire’s bold white words haunt black dialogue balloons bordered with scarlet. Thanks to IDW for providing a review copy.

 

Final Thoughts

Event Horizon: Dark Descent #1 is a powerhouse prequel that honors Resident Evil director Paul WS Anderson’s unforgettable 1997 cosmic horror movie.

 

Rating 9/10

 

For more cover art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.