The debut issue of Jude Ellison S. Doyle and Caitlyn Yarsky’s Dead Teenagers put a group of ’90s era teenagers through a terrifying time loop in which they all died in a variety of outlandish ways. Lizards of varying sizes, meteors falling from the skies, a zombie outbreak…there was seemingly nothing that could be outdone. Dead Teenagers #2 decides to one-up this by revealing the one obstacle that none of them were ready for: adulthood.
Doyle does not hold back in showcasing how each character’s adulthood either fits who they were as teens or wildly diverges from what they expected. For Ryder, who kept throwing himself in harm’s way to save his friend, he’s a suburban dad married to former party girl Brandy (who’s taken to day drinking like a champ). JT is stuck in a dead-end job working for her father, and the pressure is weighing on her. Claire has surprisingly become a Hollywood superstar. Alicia, the one person who managed to survive the loops, is dead…and by issue’s end, someone winds up joining her.
Through these glimpses into adulthood, Doyle also gets to explore how people do change for the better. JT, at the very least, is more open about her sexuality, So is Claire, to the point where she’s actually made a career out of exploring what she couldn’t say in her youth. It’s Ryder, though, who gets the best moments in the story. The first comes where he and Alicia have a heart-to-heart in one of the time loops, where he comes to terms with why he’s throwing himself into death’s arms. The second involves JT, who tells him that living for someone is far better than dying for them. It’s a very poignant moment that makes the final pages hit home all that harder.
Oni Press
Those moments are drawn in gloriously graphic, gory detail by Yarsky, who hasn’t lost her touch for inventive carnage. In fact, the entire opening sequence of Dead Teenagers #2 is a perfectly bloody homage to Red Dawn — and even says as much, courtesy of Becca Carey’s clever lettering. But I think the best part of Yarsky’s work on Dead Teenagers #2 is how she ages up the cast. Ryder goes from looking like a stereotypical teenage rebel to a regular suburban dad, bald patch and polo shirt included. Though Brandy’s kept her bright purple hair, you can see the weight of the years affecting her posture. JT also hasn’t lost her tomboyish streak, but a confrontation with her father has her breaking down in tears.
Yarsky’s color art also takes a major shift. While the opening issue was full of bright colors that highlighted youth and the various moments of carnage, the adult sections feature a more drab, washed-out look. It’s a very clever way to show how adulthood is weighing on our cast and how this challenge will be far different from anything else they’ve faced.
Dead Teenagers #2 takes a hard shift, highlighting the perils of adulthood while never losing sight of its inventive carnage. As an adult who’s had to recently deal with the twin terrors of taxes and his mid-30s, I can more than relate.
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