Michelle Herbert reviews Death Sentence, Vol. 1…
Once active, the G+ Virus, sexually transmitted and lethal, gives you around six months to live, but in those six months you will gain powers beyond belief. Welcome to London, home to Verity, Weasel and Monty who have all been infected and are coming to terms with their death sentence in their own different ways.
Weasel is an underachiever who has managed to strike it lucky in the music world, even with his lack of talent; did he used to have talent or has he wasted it all on drugs? Monty on the other hand is a media icon, originally a comic he has become the charismatic leading man who is welcome wherever he goes. Monty is never satisfied by what he has achieved, he always wants more, it has to be bigger and better and yet he never feels fulfilled.
Weasel and Monty feel like they have been based on Pete Doherty and Russell Brand, these larger than life characters who have never had to grow up and live in the real world. They are both very selfish, but manage this in different ways – Weasel by his drug fugue, focused on his music and Monty by his drive and ambition to always be bigger and more audacious.
Verity is described as the most normal of the three main characters, she is trying to come to terms with her diagnosis and goes through the stages of grief expected when someone is told they do not have long to live. Verity is an artist who had practically given up on achieving anything in her life and had ended up conforming to a mundane nature of modern life. That isn’t to say she is a saint, we don’t find out exactly what she has done in the past but it seems that she has been cast out by friends and family.
Death Sentence doesn’t give much away about where the virus came from, was it created by a government project designed to create super powers? It feels like there could be a major conspiracy with the Department of National Security involved in capturing patients who may be a danger to other people. How was the G+ virus released into the world? Was it an accident or purposely released to see what would happen?
Death Sentence is as you would imagine full of sex and destruction, and this is shown fantastically in the artwork. If you don’t like to see sex depicted continuously this book is probably not for you. This is a very modern take on super powers. Death Sentence is a story that feels fresh and of its time, and this is reflected in the cultural references throughout as well as what could be seen as a strong streak of wish fulfilment in some of the London sequences.
Apart from Monty, neither Verity nor Weasel are dealing with their mortality well. They are thrust into a reality where they are told that they will see an increase in their strength as well as their cognitive abilities and creativeness, but no one tells them about the full extent of what powers they will be dealing with or how to be safe around other people. They are constantly kept in the dark as to why they are being closely monitored.
The background to this comic story seems to be that some people would willingly infect themselves with the G+ virus to receive the physical and mental enhancements even with the final fatal consequences as there is no cure for the disease, or even a way to prolong the effects on the body.
I really enjoyed Death Sentence. This is a graphic novel with one foot in reality and the other going into the fantastic showing the human spirit at its best and worst. If you like your stories dark and believe in sex drugs and rock and roll this is for you. Where the story goes from here is anyone’s guess, but I can’t wait to find out.
Michelle Herbert
Originally published November 5, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
