Comic - Death Sentence: London #4

Steve Taylor-Bryant meets someone new as he reads issue 4 of Death Sentence: London...

The introduction of a new character can be a tricky one, especially when it's not at the start of a new run, but on this occasion Monty Nero and Martin Simmonds both take that challenge and can sit back as I did and marvel at their success. In Roots you have a streetwise drug dealer with a difference, as she is a G+ sufferer whose powers allow her to grow her plants in seconds and use them as weapons when needed. A nice, if slightly psychotic, addition to an already impressive ensemble.

Elsewhere, Jeb is filmed by his friends out of his mind drunk and confessing his love to Katy, who catches the video and reconciles with Jeb before he goes off on his mission. The Mayor meanwhile has gone missing as a riot breaks out. Not missing due to some covert black op or missing because he has been snatched. No, Mayor Bronson is locked away in a fetish session with his press secretary Tilly. Art Girl Verity has made contact with Fincham at The Chronicle and promised him proof of the island and everything that has been going on, a call that has been intercepted by those listening in awaiting a mistake and Roots finishes the issue locked in a fight with a hoodlum that rots skin and kills you.

The story is gaining momentum and it's to Nero's credit that he can ramp up the tension whilst letting so many story strings play out in their own way. Simmonds' art has impressed throughout the whole run so far but, in some of the pages this time, he takes it all to a different level. The bright colours used during Verity's escape from gunmen, the contrasting blue and reds as the Mayor's sexual deviance plays out alongside the riot, and the stunning reds and greens during Roots' pages are beyond expectations and really make certain characters or parts of the story grip you in a way you would expect from a well made film not a necessarily a comic book.

Best of an already impressive run so far and I wonder if Nero and Simmonds can really keep this up. I'm emotionally shattered just reading, they must be knackered putting it all together!

Image - Titan Comics

Available now from Titan Comics