DEATH OR GLORY #1
Written by Rick Remender
Art by Bengal and Rus Wooten
Edited by Sebastian Girner
Published by Image Comics
Release Date: May 2, 2018

Glory Owen needs a lot of money and she needs it very fast. So she’s about to make some very bad, and possibly fatal, choices.

With her father-figure at death’s door, Glory has a mad plan to pull off a heist and get enough money for his liver transplant. This is juxtaposed with a reject from No Country For Old Men playing for the other team.

The launch of this new series comes with an over-sized issue introducing the cast and premise, putting a motley cast of characters quickly into each other’s orbits.

Bengal’s work is quite strong here. A deep bench of characters get introduced through the issue, all with unique looks and identifiable quirks. The action flows well and is always clear, well framed, and focused on the vital information.

There are hints of a manga style to the art from time-to-time, particularly in the action sequences. This has one of the best car chases I’ve seen in a comic in a while, though it is quite short. Hopefully we will get back to the road quickly as Bengal shows a lot of promise with that material.

The colors are also handled by Bengal who uses a fairly realistic palette while slipping into monochromatic shock panels a few times for emphasis. He doesn’t get fancy very often, except notably with the sky, where he always paints in deep and varied shades.

Wooten’s lettering flows well with the art and he is adept at staying out of the way of the art. Remender is generally sparse with the text on this one and Wooten handles both text-heavy and lighter pages equally well.

If you’ve ever had a problem with Remender’s writing style, then I tell you, Bubba, keep walking past this one. Between an offhand R-word and three-and-a-half pages of our lead naked in the bathroom for no story reason, this comic will not fit every reader’s sensibilities.

That aside, Glory is an interesting character with a clear motivation and a supporting cast who keep telling us how great she is. She is definitely growing on me already.

An interesting start with some enough meat on it to really feel like a meal.

The Verdict: 8.0/10