Review: Near Death #7

Near Death # 7: Writer-Jay Faerber. Artist- Simone Guglielmini

If you did not know already, the Illumi-Nerdi has a twitter account. Check us out because we have so much to tell you. Recently, we had a contest to hit 250 followers. Our 250th follower was Image Comic’s Jay Faerber, writer of Near Death and the CW’s Ringer (staring Buffy’s
Sarah Michelle Gellar). For those who haven’t read this book, the story focuses around a former professional killer named Markham, who died, woke up in Hell, and then returned to the land of the living. To ensure that he doesn’t spend eternity in the bristling heat, Markham is determined to save a life for every life he stole.

One of my problems with this issue was that is very procedural. It actually reminds me of a very procedural show, The Cleaner. In the beginning of the book, the audience is introduced to a gangbanger named Devon. We found out that Markham was recruited to help save this boy’s life. Throughout the issue, he is very resistant about quitting his gang. However, it turns out that by the end of the issue he is convinced and wants to become a writer. The boy only decided to quit his gang after meeting a Hollywood writer Overall, Markham barely made an appearance or did anything that impacted the story. The end! Sorry folks, that was pretty much it.

Even though I was disappointed by the issue, Faerber did a few things differently. First off, Markham was a supporting character in this issue. Even though it hindered the issue, it was definitely an interesting concept. Even though, his lack of appearance and dialogue did leave a big hole in this issue. In most TV shows, movies and comic books, Muslims are seen as dangerous. In this issue, Devon’s brother Curtis was a former gangbanger who became a Muslim. After being released from prison, he was determined to save Devon from his past mistakes. It was fun seeing a different character perspective of a Muslim. Toward the end, Faerber hints at an interesting point about Markham's character. Curtis asks "Have you considered that perhaps simply doing good deeds isn't enough if your soul remains unchanged?". Maybe Markham needs to do much more to save his soul from an eternity of beatings. 

Score 6.5/10