The Many Deaths of Laila Starr #1

The Many Deaths of Laila Starr

by Ram V, Filipe Andrade (Cover Art)

* A powerful new series for fans of The Wicked + The Divine and The Dreaming from Ram V (Justice League Dark) and Filipe Andrade (Captain Marvel) that explores the fine line between living and dying in Mumbai through the lens of magical realism.

* 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?

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Fantasy, Mythology, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction, India

25 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 21, 2021

About the author

Ram V (Ramnarayan Venkatesan) is an author and comic book writer from Mumbai, India. His comics career began in 2012 with the award-nominated Indian comic series, Aghori. A graduate of the City University of London’s Creative Writing MA, he has since created the critically acclaimed Black Mumba and the fantasy adventure series, Brigands.

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a first issue, this did a pretty good job sucking me into the story.
The art almost made me quit the whole thing, but since it was a freebie issue on Hoopla I figured I could tough it out.



The goddess of Death has been let go and given a retirement package in the form of a mortal life. <--she's not particularly happy
Why? Well, a baby has just been born that will unlock the key to human immortality, making her a soon-to-be relic of the past.



This did a good job of humanizing Death into someone who was scared of losing their place in the world and willing to do (maybe?) a little bit of baby-murder to get back on top.
I liked it well enough to read the first volume when I can get my hands on it.

[Tawfek · Rating 5 out of 5]

You know, we are at the end of 2024, I saw a friend reading this, and saw Ram V's name and remembered how I was excited for him that he was writing Batman, and thought an indian writer will bring a new perspective to the series.
I decided to read it, not sure when, but yesterday I decided a short break from X-men (Since this is 5 issues only) and it's actually one of the best decisions I made all year.
The many deaths of Laila Starr, when I read this I knew absolutely nothing about what I was heading into, and I would like your experience to be as much of a surprise as mine, so I won't spoil anything.
Amazing art, amazing indian story, amazing writer, we are all fortunate to have Ram V write this story and us getting to read it.

[luce (cry bebè's back from hiatus) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 ½ stars

A Neil Gaimanesque sort of comic (think Good Omens & Sandman) set in contemporary India and featuring Hindu gods. Death is fired from her job and takes up residence in the recently deceased body of Laila Starr. There is a prophecy of sorts involving a child who apparently is destined to make humans immortal. Once in Laila, a vengeful Death decides to kill this newborn but her resolve falters once she has the opportunity to do so.
The writing was better than the average comic and the art, wow, the art is something else. I am head-over-heels in love with the artwork. The colours & the character designs are *chef's kiss*. The storyline is fairly fast-paced and doesn't delve too deeply into any one topic or character so I'm curious to see if the next instalments will add more dimension to this story.

[Sunny Lu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very beautiful art and sassy sitcom corporate gods and goddesses!

[Kay ☾ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the concept and artwork. Going to wait for the trade to drop to continue!

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful in art and word, this is a love letter to life in perfect tone and color staring the god of death.

[Jasmine K · Rating 2 out of 5]

i like the art a lot, but the anglo gaze feels very uncomfortable

[Myles Likes Tacos and Rice · Rating 5 out of 5]

This seems like its going to be a Sandman light set in India. As a first issue, this hits all the requirements (good intro to lead and stakes, bit of mystery, good pacing) .

Also another annoying thing with a lot of new titles is that you can tell when a comic is meant to be a pitch for a tv show, and while this seems like it would make a great show, Many Deaths was definitely created for the comic medium

[Faith Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

This graphic novel is absolutely immaculate. The art left me breathless and Ram V’s poetic writing was just as colorful as the pictures. Ram V takes on a more humanized interpretation of death that leaves you wanting to understand how he feels about basically everything else, too. What a wonderful first issue, I can’t wait to see where the rest of the story goes in the next ones!

[Bonnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I went into this with very little idea of the premise and no expectations. I was blown away! The art was absolutely gorgeous - very colourful and whimsical. The story and characters were very compelling! I can't wait to read the next one. I'd highly recommend this!

[Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was beautiful. Great story, great art. A few giggles. Hindu gods in the modern world, very excited for this to continue.

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting enough for me to keep reading, but it never got me to care about the characters.

[Jai · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been in a reading slump and I needed something quick and fun to read. I stumbled upon this and now I’m caught up in the story. Death is fired and now she’s a mortal..but the crazy part is that humanity is going to become immortal.

[Nikita Afsar · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so interesting, I love anything that has personifications of Gods and Goddesses and the concept so far is very intriguing so I can't wait to see where this is going

[soundousse Hayaty · Rating 4 out of 5]

The art is just 🤤

[Sam W · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the art! And the story was fun

[jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

my eyes were orgasming with each panel oh to be able to create such art

[Rachael · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well that was super fast… i will read the second one bc i want to know what happens but the first one was like.. so fast there was no real story.. like huh?

[Vika · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this first issue, will continue the series

[Przemysław Skoczyński · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trochę bardziej magiczne i trochę mniej trzymające w napięciu niż się spodziewałem, ale to w zasadzie dobrze. Wielkie słowa na temat tej pozycji są zdecydowanie przesadzone, ale nie miałem poczucia żenady, a to w takich symbolicznych historiach, które roszczą sobie prawo do bardziej ogólnych przypowieści, jest nagminne. No i dla europejskiego czytelnika egzotyka indyjskich bóstw może być zachęcająca. Ram V. jest naprawdę niezłym scenarzystą i odnajduje się w bardzo różnych tematykach

(opinia dotyczy całego cyklu)

[Ana Dantas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eu li a edição do dia do quadrinho grátis, que provavelmente cobre esse volume 1. Espero poder ler a coisa completa em breve, porque fiquei muito interessada na história. Fazer o quê, tenho fraco por histórias de múltiplas mortes/vidas.
Só achei que a panelização do quadrinho foi um pouco chata, majoritariamente retângulos, fácil de diagramar no Kindle, mas não muito emocionante.

[Jade Can't Read · Rating 5 out of 5]

I heard this mentioned a lot and I think its worth all the hype. Really good premise and well executed. I loved the characters and mythology behind each of them.

[Jasmin · Rating 4 out of 5]

cool n cute start

[Gaea · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars

Unusual and different in a fairly good way, though it didn't quite hook me into desperately knowing what happens next.

[Poetniknowit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very weird and interesting.
Spoilers ahead.

In Mumbai, apparently such beings as Death and God work in a high rise office setting. Death is called to God's office to be let go, bc there's a baby being born that will bring eternal life and therefore making Death's job unnecessary.

Death is bright into a human body, that of beautiful orphan Laila Starr. Death happens to be reborn in her body after Starr had jumped to her death at a party, and she just so happens to inhabit Starr's body in the same hospital this annoying baby is born at.

Death attempts to kill this baby, but nets a ghost child along the way who assists in deterring Death from killing the baby, and helps Death get away when chased from the building.

Unfortunately, as the title dictates, there are more deaths to come, and Death is hit by a mask truck on her way out of the hospital.

She wakes apparently 8 years later with the help of Pranah, the god of life.

I'm sure this series would make a lot more sense and have a lot more meaning to me if I were more familiar with the culture and religion of the seeing and characters but I'm a bit lost.

The story and characters and at are definitely worthwhile though, so I'll definitely keep reading it.

[Mattie Faye · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is truly one of the most beautiful stories I’ve had the pleasure of reading. Not only is the art in this book incredibly gorgeous in both its coloration and its unique style, but it captures you in a way that makes you savor reading it. I tend to be a reader that races through stories to understand them, but I took my sweet time with this one. It felt like it deserved the space to breathe in my mind. It is a lovely spin on immortality and the pursuit of an understanding of an imperfect existence created by imperfect beings.

This book left me smiling, while I also had tears in my eyes. It felt like it took me to a place I lovingly like to call “existential joy”, when the feeling of how small and simple our lives truly are sparks joy rather than fear. I felt a broad range of emotions throughout this story and I feel as though it does an incredible job of spinning a realistic tale depicting death & grief while simultaneously keeping the tone hopeful- because death as a concept doesn’t have to be inherently sad.

I’ll let you decide for yourself how you feel, but I was incredibly moved by this piece and truly believe that this is a perspective altering piece. I could not recommend it more.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a little torn at the beginning of this book because the initial jumps in the timeline had me a little confused. Then I figured out how this plotline was working, and enjoyed it quite a bit.

There were a couple of things that I still wonder about. A baby who is destined to bring "eternal life". As a consequence, Death is fired since there won't be as many deaths, and she is sent down to Earth to live a mortal life. She dies, and the God of Life brings her back, again and again as she dies in different ways. Here are my quandaries. If there is no more God of Death, how does "Laila Starr" die...over and over again. How do others die? How does she plan to try and kill this baby before he can make humankind immortal? She is no longer death.

Aside from this, I really enjoyed the story. It takes a goddess, and has her experience the mortal world, learning lessons along the way. She actually does become more human as time goes on.

This is the first book in a series, so it will be interesting to see where the story goes from here.

[Akhil Kang · Rating 3 out of 5]

The artwork, play with colors and palette is breathtaking. I will frame one of the panels (of 3 friends in the pillow factory). I expected a deeper philosophical depth to the Goddess of death. The other main character is perturbed by the cruelty he witnesses in his life but those moments felt like they were just background plots. Untouchability and communal violence are not setups, at least according to me, that I would use in a story just to move a plot-line. How DOES it affect upper castes? It goes beyond just....death, no? Throughout the comics, the author has chosen a background, overarching narration - but the actual dialogues could have been more intentional. Many panels took awkward jumps, and some characters are not fully explained. I do want to commend the author for experimenting with stories of Hindu gods and goddesses. At a time when right-wing religious advocates can't stand any depiction of the Hindu pantheon, this comic pushes the visual and narrative genre of storytelling. It feels like a baby step though; for people who had read Ambedkar.

[Cierra · Rating 5 out of 5]

"But life is worthy and beautiful even if it is not always pretty."

The Many Deaths of Laila Starr follows the goddess of death Kali as she is fired from her job because a baby named Darius is born and he will discover the secret to immortality. She is then cast down to earth to live a mortal life in Mumbai as Laila Starr. As her cycle of life and death is inexplicably tied with Darius, she sets out to stop him and get her job back.

This comic features a rich world overflowing with color and symbolic prose. It is lush, creative, and one of the most stunning comics I've seen. The writing is clever, deep, and it left me pondering things for days. It handles the heavy topic of death in a gentle and beautiful way. The Many Deaths of Laila Starr is a comic I highly recommend and think more people should read.