Coffin Bound #2: Fast-Paced & Bloody Action Comes Undone In The Dialogue…
by Richard Bruton
Issue two of Coffin Bound begins with a murderous patchwork man and ends with a bloody death. In between it all races away from itself a little too fast. It’s living up to the whole grindhouse nightmare and high-octane thrills of the PR billing and it looks damn gorgeous, but there’s still big problems with the comic.
With the first issue of Coffin Bound, I found it to be one of those debuts that just tries to do too much, even though, thanks to Dani’s fabulous and visceral artwork, it tries to do it whilst looking real good.
The basic premise is that Izzy Tyburn has been targeted for death by an unstoppable killer and she’s decided that, if she has to go, she’s going out fighting. Accompanied by the vulture’s head in a cage guy, on the phone to her manager who’s chainsawing off bits of his own body, and tracking down an ex-beau to say goodbye, Izzy’s tale is incredibly fast-paced in shifting scenes and brutal bouts of action.
It’s a bloody road trip of a comic and it’s got almost everything in place now to make it a really cracking tale…
The unstoppable killer, the Eartheater, is still chasing her down, still accompanied by that same purple prose. And now we have the added mystery of that patchwork killer in a strange bird-like mask, something Izzy also later dons her own version of.
The questions come fast and there are few answers yet. However, that’s alright, as all that fast-paced action really does drive the storyline along.
But, but, but… the thing that really grated in that first issue is still getting to me. The story’s great, the art’s wonderful, but the dialogue, Eartheater and more, is just a plodding thing, full of that purple prose that doesn’t match the pace of the action going on at all.
Coffin Bound has SO much going for it, with Dani’s artwork a real highlight, capturing all nastiness it needs to, looking a little Azzarello-like at times (no bad thing), full of grubby little details and great designs. It’s just a shame that there’s that disconnect between what’s going on in the art and the story and what comes out the character’s mouths.
And just a word for the letters on Coffin Bound, or more precisely the word balloons. I’ve always loved this style of doing things and it really does add to the overall sense of fine style on Coffin Bound.
Coffin Bound Issue 2, written by Dan Watters, art by Dani, colors by Brad Simpson, letters by Aditya Bidikar, graphic design by Emma Price. Published by Image Comics.
