Graphic Novel Reading Group discussion

Has anyone read Pretty Deadly, Vol. 1: The Shrike?

I finished it this morning and I have so many questions... I can't decide if I like a little or really hate it. The art is awesome, but I thought the storyline was pretty confusing and the writing could be better.

Anyone know what the deal was with Johnny? Was Alice the Mason's wife? Why was Sarah hanging out after the river-birth-situation? *head explodes*

Oh, I loved Pretty Deadly. I thought it was amazing. Just so amazing. It's my favourite comic. Emma Rios is my all-time favourite artist, and Kelly Sue DeConnick's writing has such a rich lyrical quality to it.

The story of Johnny Coyote and Molly Raven was actually primarily explained in back-up stories in the first two issues, but those weren't reprinted in the collection, which is a shame. Basically, they're a couple of friends who liked sneaking into places and being bad, and then they decided to steal the moon by sneaking into a house and finding the deed. When they did, Death found them, and turned Molly into a raven, at which point she tore up the deed, so the moon then belonged to everyone. So, Johnny's deal is basically that he's a rogue who does, ultimately, have his heart in the right place, but needs to be reminded of it once in a while.

Big Alice isn't Beauty. Big Alice is simply a Reaper - one of Death's hunters. Beauty is a different character, and honestly, I think what KSD did with her might be the best part of the book, because she completely subverted the role Beauty had filled up to that point. She'd always been caged up by men who wanted her, but in the end, by taking action on her own, she was the one who ultimately saved the world. She chose to stop letting men cage her, and by freeing herself, she freed the world. It's a very uplifting message, I thought.

Sarah was at the river because she was grieving.

I will agree that Pretty Deadly is not an easy book. It requires a lot of work to read it, and it requires multiple readings, because each time, you pick up a little more, and see more connections. But personally, I found it incredibly rewarding as a result of that. The fact that the writing and art are so beautiful also meant those multiple readings were a pleasure all their own.

I feel so much better informed now.

So none of that is obvious except for the part about Sarah. Totally got that piece on her - just don't get why she's still hanging out with a bunch of dead/half-dead folks. But that's minor compared to everything else that isn't available.

I agree they really should have added all of that back story about Johnny and Molly to the volume, it would have made his part of the story so much stronger.

About Alice - in the end, she tells the Mason that she wishes she could take him with her (I wish I had the volume with me but it's at home so I can't quote it directly) and there's a quick bit of dialogue between them. That's when I thought that she was Beauty.

Maybe I'll try to pick up the individual issues. I feel like that would be helpful... and now I'm wondering what else I might be missing in any other volumes I've read!

Alice didn't say anything to Mason. She did tell Johnny that she admired him for defying Death.

Honestly, the Johnny and Molly story should've been included just because of how cool it is. It's a cool fable-like short story. But those sorts of cool bonus features usually don't get included in TPBs, much like letters pages are almost always left out. That's one reason I prefer to get individual issues.

And I still want to see a woman sing The Ballad of Deathface Ginny. A couple guys did versions of it, but they weren't very good singers. I want to hear a girl with a nice voice singing it.

I'm a little late to the discussion, but I'm in another group that just did Pretty Deadly for a bookclub and I stumbled upon these posts because I was looking for more info on the Johnny/Molly short story. So thanks for the info!

And also, here's a podcast with a pretty great rendition of a woman singing the Ballad of Deathface Ginny (she's working on a full-length version).