Comicsphere: Rule Of Death By Daniel Merlin Goodbrey & Douglas Noble

I found this strip through Daniel Merlin Goodbrey who is also the writer on Necessary Monsters another site which I check on regularly.

Noble\’s artwork is perhaps an acquired taste but one which I found myself getting hooked on pretty quickly — it has an edgy simplicity that gives the strip a raw and atmospheric feel that is perfectly suited to the subject matter.

The pacing of the piece has those moments of held breath which hang between the action scenes in westerns on the big screen and create that tension which the firing of a gun releases. The premise is an interesting one — I think from the image above you can see that there is something wrong with Pete Colby and it is a strength of the writing that this point isn\’t overly relied upon to drive the story — it is instead a catalyst that allows us to explore that most important element of most good story-telling, at least in my opinion: humanity.

The dialogue is great; it shares that same understated quality that grounds Necessary Monsters so squarely within a world that convinces. You don\’t question the authenticity of a single thing that happens, which is a great attribute; no bum notes being sounded at all.

I read through everything that was up on the site and intend to be a regular there every Friday from now on — you should mosey on over there if you know what\’s good for you and even if you don\’t