Review – The Many Deaths Of Laila Starr #4
Review – The Many Deaths Of Laila Starr #4
Written By: Ram V
Artwork: Filipe Andrade
Publisher: Boom! Studios
Available: 21st July 2021
Variant Cover: Ariela Kristantina, Evan Cagle
Buy The Many Deaths Of Laila Starr #4 at your Local Comics Shop, BGCP list of Scottish shops is here
Synopsis
The mortal incarnation of Death, Laila Starr, must confront the cruel nature of her role in the universe when she once again encounters the future creator of immortality who is drawing ever closer to his destiny.
Laila finds it increasingly difficult to divert the man from his path, who this time recognizes her and what she is, as he is now driven by grief from a terrible tragedy…
Writer: Ram V
Leila finds herself drawn to the last Chinese temple in Mumbai as she looks for the grown-up Darius. But as the mortal incarnation of the God of Death Leila can of course talk to many things including the soul of the temple. It’s worried about its last worshipper Wei, who has faithfully tended after it since it was built. Leila askes the Temple for directions and promises to check in on Wei and report back.
At Darius’ house, she is confronted by him, he’s joined the dots from the previous issues, the death of Bardan, Zaffar and he’s kept a clipping from the house fire she died in the last issue. She confirms she’s a god of death trapped in the body of teenager Leila Starr and Darius explodes with anger at the death of his beloved wife and business partner, blaming her for the bad luck in his life.
V has been building up the emotions for the past three issues and they explode like the storm in this issue, why is death so unfair, why does it seem to follow us through our life and take all that we love and if we could confront it would we? Leila’s abstract conversation with the temple Hrrfmm’ing through Wei’s story is amazing the temple hardly mentions its purpose but see’s itself through Wei learning Hindi as the Chinese return home and its purpose diminishes.
The grief Darius wears explodes like an open wound on Leila and it’s only the reminder of life, his son, that snaps Darius out of hurting Leila.
I’ll be marking the next 30 days off on my calendar till I get the finale.
Artwork: Filipe Andrade
Andrade’s stunning drawings coloured with whistful pastels and muted tones build the tone of the issue. The sadness of Darius explodes from the page as the storm outside grows darkening both his and the reader’s mood. The little flashes of six armed godhood help remind us that behind the confused teenager, the vengeful god that set out to kill a baby lingers.
The variant covers by Ariela Kristantina, Evan Cagle and Andrade add an otherwordly element.
Overall thoughts
Leila Starr should be a mandatory read for anybody who has suffered at the hands of death, it’s cruel but needed nature is hard to understand but as Darius says “The memories are immortal, they refine themselves to perfection over time.” You can see why reviewers and readers have been all been giving amazing scores over on Comicbook Roundup. It has a Metascore of 9.8 from critics and 9.2 from readers. Don’t wait till it’s over to get in on the action.
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Enjoy our sneak peek at issue four below.
