Lady Death: The Reckoning

Lady Death (Chaos!) #1

by Brian Pulido

Book by Pulido, Brian

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Horror, Ebooks

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Is an American creator, writer and producer of comic books, magazines and films.









Photo credit: Tiffany Rose

Reviews

[Sassy Sedusa · Rating 5 out of 5]

so good. i recommend it.

[☠︎︎ A. ☠︎︎ · Rating 3.5 out of 5]

3.5/5 ✩

“All Hope is gone. All that is left is Death.”

QUICK SUMMARY
Lady Death: The Reckoning is the first solo miniseries for the character of the same name. It explores her origin as the mortal woman Hope, and how she transforms into Lady Death. Although this serves as a good starting point that conveys her character, the story itself could have been stronger, and the art of the book wasn’t the strongest outing for Hughes and Jensen.

R.E.A.D.S. REVIEW
As a fan of Lady Death thanks to the Evil Ernie comics, I was eager to finally jump into the character’s solo adventures. With The Reckoning, we’ve given a glimpse at her backstory and the woman she was before she became a goddess. The throughline of her drive - her selfishness and desire - is present from the start, and lends itself well to her evolution over the three-issue series.

If anything, I do think the story could have been a touch longer to give us a better glimpse into who Hope (and thus, Lady Death) is, because the length left something to be desired. The story was clear enough, but it lacked a depth that I would have enjoyed. Considering that Lady Death comes to rule Hell in the span of three-issues, it feels a little rushed to get her to that destination, and an additional one or two issues could have really made the difference here.

Unfortunately, the artwork brought this book down for me. Normally, I’m a huge fan of Hughes’ art and the way he draws Lady Death, but the visual storytelling of this series was really heavy, with panels full of too much going on that it made it hard to focus. Yes, he still draws Lady Death beautifully, and there are many panels dedicated to his usual style, but the majority of the book had a lot going on. Similarly, I like what Jensen does with colors most of the time, but in this case the colors were too bold and heavy, which added to the visual chaos.

Critiques aside, I still had a good time with this book. I came in with a bit of a bias as a prior fan of Lady Death, so I can’t say this book will work for everyone, but for those who enjoy Chaos! Comics and the “hot babe” trope of 90s comics, this story offers an interesting plot that elevates Lady Death into the leading woman she was meant to be.

R.E.A.D.S. SCORE
R: 7/10
E: 7/10
A: 6/10
D: 7/10
S: 6/10
Total: 6.60/10.00

[Etain · Rating 3 out of 5]

peak

this genuinely has some really nice art, which is good cause you sure as hell aren't reading it for the story. so. many. thought. bubbles.

[Jarlos]

Brian Pulido's inner child unleashes another dollop of fanboy glee, this time, this time in celebration of medieval adventure and gothic sexy horror. demonic battles, medieval plague, and a classic story of a pure hero turning to total darkness are handled with better artwork and a little less silliness than Evil Ernie.

[Roxanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think the story was really good and I liked a lot the fact that Lady Death is unapologetic. I can’t wait the read more of Lady Death!! The only thing that wasn’t very much my taste was the art, but I also know that it was published like 15 years ago and also the font that they used is really hard to read. But if you can ignored that, the story of Lady Death is BOMB!🤘

[47Time · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ah, a simpler time. This story is such a breath of fresh air. It's about hell and demons, corruption and vengeance, blood thirst and blind desire to conquer. And bewbs. Glorious mounds of flesh for no practical reason at all. It's amazing how scared today's artists are of the human body, of blood (the red kind), of eviscerations. This comic is more than 30 years old and it's still relatively fun.

Once there was a girl named Hope. Her mother died, so she had to live with Matthias, her abusive father. Hope's only respite was beside her lover Niccolo. Matthias bribed demons from hell with the souls of his dead soldiers. His aim was to conquer hell at all costs. Eventually, his townspeople, angry at losing their children to war, rose up against him. They stabbed him to death, but he embraced death and disappeared. Still seething with anger, the townspeople burned Hope as a witch. All seemed lost.

In desperation, Hope remembered her father's incantation to hell's demons. Hope awoke in hell, where her father was building another army to face Lucifer. His hatred for her was still in his heart, as he banished her from his castle. Hope's own hatred and the suffering she witnessed all around shaped her into a creature who wanted only vengeance. She had Cremator, hell's blacksmith, forge her a sword to face her father.

Meanwhile, Matthias defeated Lucifer and turned his focus toward killing his daughter. By this time, Hope was twisted in body and mind, so she adopted the name Lady Death. She decimated Matthias's army and confronted him as well. It turned out that is was all a ruse by Lucifer. His goal all along was to corrupt an innocent soul - Hope's. But he made Lady Death too strong. Her sheer desire to win brought about Lucifer's fall. He cursed her to not be able to walk the Earth until humanity was dead. Lady Death welcomed the challenge.

[Your_Average_Magical_Girls_Fan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not particularly exceptional material TBH, but at LEAST Pulido put some actual effort in the writing department and in fleshing out Lady Death's character and her motivations outside the skimpy outfit and poses a bit, meaning she's a character pushed over the edge and wants to get revenge (a motive I'm honestly tired of in general, but in comparison to the shitty solo Purgatory comics looks like The Odissey by comparison) against those who put in that situation and took her family and beloved ones in the meantime. Lots and lots of fanservice and buttshots are seen and appreciated, but again we're not Purgatory field where the tits and ass are the ONLY THING existing but they are indeed here, and of course being the intended target audience I have no problems provided there's something else going on and not simply an infinite stream of interchangeable T&A/erotic poses. On a final note, the ending felt a bit rushed in terms of both the writing and the art, but whatever. I'd take this over the unreadable origin issues of Purgatory any day.

[Ashe Catlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

So going into Lady Death….. not literally, you know what I mean! Anyway I’ve always loved her gothic look and was hoping for a bit of plot, that wasn’t just tits and ass. I was pleasantly surprised and a little shocked that it didn’t contain gratuitous shots of her bum or chest. It follows Hope an innocent girl, who is slowly turned by the evil of the world. Until she turns into Lady Death and journeys through Hell.

One of the main things I like that her transformation into Lady Death isn’t instantaneous it’s more of a slow burn, meanwhile conveying her decent into madness. I quite liked the art as well it was refined like most comic art these days it’s a bit murky and rough which suited the story down to a T. The only shame for me is the fact that the rest of the series is so hard to get a hold of, I don’t want to wait to finish this series.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting to read something that feels like part of the same milieu as Doom and Warhammer. Something was in the water in the 90s and the something in question was probably the tendrils of the famed Satanic Panic. There don't seem to be any particular depths to these books, but there's an unfettered exuberance to both the layouts and the plotting that makes them feel kinetic and compelling. It's a similar feeling to reading Jack Kirby's Fourth World comics. The kind of freedom that only touches the fringes of the major publishers from time to time. Freedom to birth a masterpiece? Not in this case, but the freedom to make the painting on the side of a van come to life? Sure, why not.

[Gabriel Mero · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice introduction to this iconic character

[Ned Netherwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a spicy pepper she is

[Jeremy Dutcher]

It's Lady Death from Chaos Comics!
So it's awesome!

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Introduction to how Hope is forced into becoming Lady Death in order to bring justice to her father (Matthias)who killed her mother in 1485 (for not giving him a son).

[Scott A. Love · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the book that got me collecting comics.

[H · Rating 4 out of 5]

collects 3 issues. Lady Death is a badass and I loooooooove the art.

[Connor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This graphic novel is a fun introduction to Brian Pulido's most popular character, though I felt like there wasn't quite enough content for a full volume. Nonetheless, I had a very good time with this release.

[Jared · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you were a fan of comics in the heyday of Wizard magazine, you're probably familiar with characters like Lady Death and Evil Ernie. Antiheroes built on wanton violence and sex appeal, they were very much a product of the 90s.

This light volume collects three issues explaining the origin of Lady Death. It's a surprisingly decent trade, tracing the character's path from innocent medieval woman to dark sorceress. The characterizations are pretty flat and the dialogue isn't likely to challenge you or give you pause, but the arc works for what it is and the art is generally fun. This was a passion project for author and creator Brian Pulido and his enthusiasm does come through.

[Shane Findlay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have two Lady Death tattoos so I am obligated to give five stars! Love CHAOS comics!