Replace the politics and accessibility of “East of West” with a penchant for symbolism and abstraction and you have “Pretty Deadly” – a book that is every bit as good, yet entirely different than its brother series.
Written by Kelly Sue DeConnick
Illustrated by Emma RiosAll blood spilled into the earth makes its way to a river. Where those rivers meet, Fox attends the birth of a beast, the child of a thousand violent deaths.
Why compare “Pretty Deadly” to “East of West” when, in practice, they really aren’t that similar? Well, first of all, I want to get more people to read this. Shameless, right? Ulterior motives aside, there’s also the western veneer that informs everything in it and the idea of Death personified, looming over the other characters in the title. There’s also the fact that Jonathan Hickman & Kelly Sue DeConnick are two of the finest writers in the business, teaming with two artists who are going all out filling their respective pages with many things weird and wonderful.
Beyond that, “Pretty Deadly” strikes out in completely original territory – and it really is unlike anything else on the market. In fact, it’s a testament to what Image Comics has going on over there, because this book is very clearly DeConnick and Rios doing whatever they want to do – accessibility be damned. The duo is allowed to go full-bore into linking the sequences of each issue together in an almost stream of consciousness fashion. Fantastical elements cause the visuals to swirl making something more like a series of fables and metaphors than a straightforward story.
Issue #3, however, is the series’ clearest issue yet, as these malleable blobs of story start to come together and form stronger links. The connections between the central characters (there are really 3 segmented plot settings being juggled in each issue) are starting to come together, and some are quite interesting if you connect some of the potential dots. If you boil the story of Ginny (the pretty deadly lady alluded to by the title) down, it’s a pretty simple story with a clear revenge motivation. It’s the way that the peripheral characters, morals, and fables mix together to convolute everything that makes “Pretty Deadly” such a compelling read. It’s not easy, but it’s not meant to be. With issue #3, however, all of the characters are headed toward their conflicts with one another. It’s not quite there yet, but you can see “Pretty Deadly” moving toward this payoff. It’s rare that comics are a slow burn, but also have plenty going on enough to fill the pages, but also clearly have a bigger scope than the story pitch would have you believe.
The abstraction of “Pretty Deadly” works entirely because Emma Rios’ art is so captivating regardless of what she’s drawing. It’s an indulgence that only a creator-owned title could afford, but “Pretty Deadly” doesn’t just allow indulgences – it downright celebrates them. The letters page for “Pretty Deadly” proudly publishes Tweets from readers who clearly have no idea what they’ve read, and outright say as much. What that says to me is that there are few inhibitions in the creative process and DeConnick & Rios are entirely comfortable letting the other one do what they do with the world they’ve collaboratively created.
“Pretty Deadly” #3, as the other issues do, opens on a narration from a skeletal rabbit and a realistically rendered butterfly chatting on the spare desert landscape. They’re your introduction into the chaotic fable, and Rios renders them as lovingly as anything else in the book. We move to a sequences where a man and woman share a bed after a complicated and strange night together. Rios’ keen eye for compelling character work and body language shows through, even while she side-steps the pitfalls of idealizing the human form. They are ordinary looking people, naked before us in a troubled world. That all comes through in the art work. Eventually we see a fantastical cautionary tale from an old weathered man (Fox) to a young girl (Sissy), and this is where Rios flowing, ethereal pencils are fully unleashed. Intense emotion and clear symbolism coat the pages, all brought to the world gorgeously by the art team of Rios and colorist Jordie Bellaire.
“Pretty Deadly” isn’t going to be for everyone, but it’s something everyone should try on for size. The story is just starting to coalesce into something with real meat and coherence to it, and it’s quite satisfying to see it come together. DeConnick and Rios are too damn talented to have expected anything else. Regardless, it’s still a pretty elusive story right now, so be aware of that. If nothing else, “Pretty Deadly” accomplishes something that we should all strive for in our creative endeavors: a glorious sense of creative freedom.
Final Verdict: 8.5 – Buy
