The Many Deaths of Laila Starr #1

The Many Deaths of Laila Starr #1

BOOM! Studios 2021

Written by Ram V

Illustrated by Filipe Andrade

Colour Assists by Inês Amaro

Lettered by Andworld Design

* With humanity on the verge of discovering immortality, the avatar of Death is fired and relegated to the world below to live out her now-finite days in the body of twenty-something Laila Starr in Mumbai.

* Struggling with her new-found mortality, Laila has found a way to be placed in the time and place where the creator of immortality will be born…

* But will Laila take her chance to permanently reverse the course of (future) history...or does a more shocking fate await her?

I am so glad that Ram is writing this and the perspective from which he’s doing it. This is a culture we don’t see a lot of in comics in the United States and to take this approach and introduce us to those deities is utterly fantastic. I’ve watched Ram grow as a writer and I have to say he’s been able to hone his craft beautifully and that he’s able to utilise his talent and skill in such a way is remarkable. This is a gorgeous book with a stellar premise and some really nice execution.

I am loving the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. From how Laila went from the Goddess of Death to a mortal human is something unexpected and yet the humour aspect to what we see is fabulous! The character development that we see is phenomenal and as the dialogue alongside how they act and react to the situations and circumstances they encounter. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the twists & turns along the way it’s nice to see that something so new, fresh and unique can keep the interest and intrigue factors so high.

I am a fan of the way that this is being structured and how the layers within the story have begun to emerge. Some feel as if they’ve been in place before our entry into their lives and I have to say this is intriguing as well as engaging so that the reader is able to come up with a backstory of their own. I like how we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward.

The interiors here are gorgeous. I love how we see the linework and its varying weights and techniques being utilised to create the detail work is extraordinary. There is this unexpected sensuality in the work that plays well in the backdrop of the story. Normally this is the part where I say we could use more backgrounds in play but honestly I’m not going to do that, for whatever reason the work resonates with me in such a fashion that how we see the composition within the panels bringing us this depth perception, sense of scale and that overall sense fo size and scope to the book is so perfectly done. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkably talented eye for storytelling. The colour work is so beautifully rendered. The choices in the hues and tones within the colours being more in the pastel vein is eye catching and breathtaking in how we see it come to life. It’s different, daring and how we see the shading, highlights and shadow work being done is stunning.

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This book took my breath away in how the story is being told and how the visuals take us through the pages just captures the mind and imagination of the reader in some surprising ways.