Comic - Death Sentence #6

Previously on Buffy the V... oh wait that's wrong, isn't it? To catch you up on all things Monty, Weasel and Verity before the new Death Sentence: London comes out, here's a reminder of Steve Taylor-Bryant's review of the final issue of the original Death Sentence...

Too many things are ending all at once - I don’t like it. Favourite TV shows stop and now Death Sentence reaches its climax. After five straight issues receiving full marks from me, I sadly turn the page to see if the issue 6 finale holds up.

Death Sentence #6 picks up from where #5 left off in a confrontation between the three main protagonists, Monty, Weasel and Verity, with Verity trying to subdue to the wild and crazy Monty. They fail but manage to escape before Monty kills them. Monty then turns to more important matters at hand - The Navy is coming! With his influence spread across the people of London and beyond, he is weakened and isn’t sure he can take on the might of the military and so decides to kill over a million people so he concentrate his efforts on the advancing force.

During their regrouping, Verity and Weasel make love leaving Verity feeling refreshed and ready to create the images that will take down Monty. Weasel though saw their session as more a one night stand than a connection and decides he wants no part of the fight anymore. After an altercation, an angry Verity throws Weasel's narcotics out of the window before leaving to take on Monty alone.

Monty is hovering above the ship-filled ocean like the god he thinks he is and causes catastrophic damage with a massive tidal wave, so a defeated President Obama decides drastic action must be taken and orders the D-Bomb.

Weasel arrives at his house to find his son dead, one of the general population Monty had culled, and turns into a emotional wreck. Meanwhile, the final battle begins as Verity uses the images in her mind as a weapon against Monty. After what appears to be a moment of reflection, the egotistical side of Monty reverts back into the action with Monty taking down Verity...Violently. The U.S. fire the satellite weapon and think they have Monty defeated, before a damaged but still alive Monty appears from the carnage but not for long as Weasel stabs him with an iron girder, angry at the death of his beloved son. Weasel turns to find Verity dead...

Well, issue 6 was packed with everything. Swear words (FuckBagel was a personal favourite), action, violence and emotion. The emotion was intense. Love, loss, anger all at once felt quite overwhelming and brought a more human reaction to me than the other five issues did. Whilst I loved everything about the previous editions, this copy of Death Sentence gripped my heart and soul and wouldn’t let go. I learned things...Death Sentence is educational! I learned that you can take very human base feelings and actions and raise them to a level to makes for superb storytelling. I learned that you can emotionally connect to characters made of ink and I learned that personal actions have consequences on the world albeit in a much magnified level in Death Sentence. Did I learn what Monty Nero and Mike Dowling wanted me to? I don’t know, you would have to ask them, I know one thing for sure though, the biggest lesson I learned is I really enjoy comics again.

Image - Titan Comics.