Philosophical Debates And More Gory Action In Die! Die! Die! #3, And I Love It!

In a comic where everyone is a badass assassin or corrupt civil servant with a kink, then you have to go looking for your heroes very, very carefully. And, the closest we’re going to get for the moment, it would seem, is Nate Lipshitz (no relation to Connie Lipshitz, apparently, the focal character of this issue. We learn more about the man, his past and his present domestic circumstances (for one, he likes reading HP Lovecraft’s At The Mountains of Madness to his young daughter as her bedtime story!), and we learn that he ain’t that bad. Well, not when you compare him to his peers. He’s a man doing a job, but its clear he tries his utmost to keep killing to a minimum. See, a nice guy, right?
Whatever the genre, Robert Kirkman, along with writing partner, Scott M Gimple, will always take the opportunity to philosophise and even when it comes out of the mouths of such degenerates as Connie Lipshitz or the ever more morally repugnant Senator Barnaby, these can be compelling arguments. In this case, they argue over whether its better to save the life of a high powered paedophile  who will affect the lives of hundreds across his lifetime, and thereby ‘helps millions’: the old chestnut that it’s better to sacrifice the few for the betterment of the many. Lipshitz doesn’t buy this and even though we are more than aware of her own black ops tactics after three gory and great issues, she still feels that she is doing what’s best in her hopes of achieving utopia one day.
This is one wordy exchange, but it does add to the story and the characters’ motivations, so it’s well worth the inclusion. After all, this is more than just an ultra-violet comic for shock value. Far from it. It may be soaked in blood and bits of brains, noses and other fleshy debris resulting from the high death count in any issue thus far, but it does differentiate the different shades of evil on show here and offer up real life philosophy we can sometimes relate to (e.g. we buy from corporations we know do bad things in the world, but still show disgust when such corporations act unethically, as they often do).

But, it won’t be just the clever writing that will keep you entertained. Co-creator and artist, Chris Burnham, is having a field day on this title, being a self-professed horror fan, which you need to be to thoroughly enjoy this comic. It’s not for the faint hearted, but if you are such a person, do try to persevere with this title. It’s full of twists and turns and even this issue finishes off on another tantalising cliff-hanger and the promise of further violence to come. All in the name of creating a better world and a better future for all. Or, so they keep telling themselves.
Die! Die! Die! #3 by Kirkman, Gimple and Burnham is available now from Image/Skybound.