Coffin Bound, Vol. 2: Dear God

Coffin Bound #5-8

by Dan Watters, DaNi (Artist), Brad Simpson (Artist)

Taqa wants nothing in the world other than God- the holy oblivion found in a syringe. But with the city planning to ban the sacred narcotic, it falls to her to prove the existence of the divine by courting death- and the array of deadly assassins who she's set on her own tail. Worship with us on an existential road trip through the tangle of a self-destructive life.

Collects COFFIN BOUND #5-8

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Horror, Fiction, Comic Book

144 pages, Paperback

First published December 2, 2020

About the author

Dan Watters is a UK based comic book writer. His first book, LIMBO, was released through Image Comics in 2016. He has since written THE SHADOW at Dynamite Comics, and ASSASSIN’S CREED and WOLFENSTEIN for Titan Comics.

Currently he is writing the relaunch of LUCIFER for Vertigo’s Sandman Universe, as well as DEEP ROOTS for Vault Comics. Deeply rooted in London Town, and firmly of the Devil's party.

Reviews

[John Hartford · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second volume of Coffin Bound exceeded my expectations after reading the first.

Dani's art hits whole new levels of stunning in this volume. It has all these little touches that remind me of comic art from the past. Her use of negative space is marvelous.

Dan Watters expands the world of Coffin Bound in ways I never expected. The story follows Taqa, a character from vol 1, and I love the shift in presepctive. The pulp magical realism story is something I will be thinking over for some time.

I don't want to spoil this comic but if you are a fan of weird horror noir this is the comic for you.

[Δημήτρης Μπ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow, the second volume of Coffin Bound brings a whole new meaning to the word weird and confusing (as if the first volume was not confusing enough). There is a church that praises a god through narcotics, which can be countered by blood transfusions (which makes no actual sense), the main antagonist is Madame Entropy and it's never really explained who or what she is. The story never actually goes anywhere, I couldn't find a sense of closure in the end, or at least an ending.

And, while in the first volume the artwork was pretty decent (and the main reason I bought this series in the first place since it was created by the Greek artist Dani ), in this second one, the art turns to confusion too. From a certain point and almost up to the last issue the art-style changes drastically and you can barely tell the characters from each other.

I'm not sure if there is going to be a third volume, but I don't think I will be reading it.

[Nell · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

I want more Madame Entropy, but I also loved Doll coming back too. She weaves all the concepts together in both story arcs

[Alex Sarll]

Haunted urban noir, far more static than the previous volume's spooky road movie. Any sense of weird Americana has dissipated, not least because everyone in this city tends to talk like the subtitles in a self-consciously European movie, staring off-camera as they intone musings about death and God which may or may not be as meaningful as they want to sound. I honestly don't know how seriously to take it, but I can't deny that Dani makes it look brilliant.

[Luna Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Coffin Bound continues to be one of the best things ever.

[Laurian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Weird and beautiful and gross and thoughtful and unsettling.

[Clint · Rating 5 out of 5]

This second set of issues matches the darkly comic tone and mournful existentialism of the first volume, even as it tells a story about a mostly new cast of characters. Watters’s writing remains imaginatively weird as he sketches out the unique contours of this world, where so much of the plot and dialogue feels simultaneously literal and like a poetic metaphor. Dani and the rest of the art team visualize it all with fittingly crumbling grime and rot, and plenty of adventurous page layouts.

I imagine this series is probably Coffin Bound itself by now, but I’d love to see a third set of issues that pivots POV yet again at some point.

“…should anyone try to shoot you, attempt not to be shot.”

“Do not be downtrodden. She will probably be brutally murdered…but you will shtill have this thish photograph. It will never bleed or grow old…ish that not better?”

“I’ve seen enough of her. I understand her now. I see all the sorrow. I see how it’s made just a little worse by a hint of light, which she has not the words to embrace. Poor, poor sinner. I love you.”

“I can feel everything and everything hurts.”
“Yes. Life is a cruel endurance test between nothings.”

“For a short while you will have lived. You will have felt things and enjoyed things and then you will have died. Things will be left unsaid. Plans will be left unfinished…You will be mourned for a while and then be forgotten.”

“She had so little, and fought so hard to have even less.”

“The photograph is a stolen moment. It has already passed by the time we see it. What stirs us in it is the pain of what has already been lost.”

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Individual issue reviews: #5 | #6 | #7 | #8

Total review score: 2.625

[Abhinav Vuppalapati · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art again looked really nice, the first volume I was really confused on what was going on and was just lost in the story so I was kind of hesitant to read this one, I will tell you tho, this one is way more put together, and way more understandable compared to the first one, it’s weird, but it’s weird to the point where you’re intrigued and interested to see what happens next.

[Brandon Daniels · Rating 5 out of 5]

This second volume trades some of the purposiveness of the first arc for a more somber tone. It’s a bit less fun, a bit more grim, but it feels fitting. There’s an amazing issue that is more experimental than anything in the first arc that helps elevate this to that same height.

[Cadavercide · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this better than the first one. The characters actually have more dialogue and don't just talk in pieces. The bounty hunters made for interesting characters. I found the weirdness in this one more interesting and not so disjointed.

[Stuart Yellop · Rating 2 out of 5]

Even the beautiful art couldn't save this second volume. Pretentious dialogue returns from the first, but manages to be more stilted. (Worse, all the characters speak the same cod-philosophical patter.) This was also sold half-price at Travelling Man. They should have paid me to clear the stock.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the rawness of the the art, both the line work and the colours; they really bring home the bleakness and desperation of the story.

[mil · Rating 4 out of 5]

just as good as the first volume, in love with the universe and characters and art

[Will Fenton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wild, but not as coherent as the first volume.

[Jake Nap · Rating 2 out of 5]

The experimentation in this volume was cool, but I’m still left underwhelmed.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this, I was kind of confused towards the end there, and the artwork is beautiful.

[arden · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked volume 1 better, but this was still pretty strong.