The debut issue of Kyle Starks and Steve Pugh’s End of Life was a profane, punchy, and near-perfect way to help bring the Vertigo brand back to the forefront of comics. The only question was: how will Starks and Pugh build on the foundation they laid in the first issue? It turns out the duo plans to bring more of what made the first issue work, mixing a hefty dose of profanity and violence alongside some pretty heavy emotional damage.
Eddie Stallion is not having a very good time. The organization of hit men he joined wants him dead. His estranged father has a severe case of cancer…and wants him dead. He is not accustomed to living life in a small town. And the cherry on top is that his so-called “friends” in the contract killer business actually want him dead. Simply put, Eddie will have to go to extreme lengths to survive.
Most of End of Life #2 is fairly low-key, trading in the violence you’d expect for a more introspective approach as Eddie learns exactly what his dad’s been up to in the years since he left town. To his surprise, people know his dad less as a cantankerous cuss and more as a pillar of the community. Eddie, for his part, is clearly unaccustomed to being in a small town; he scoffs at the idea of a farmer’s market and doesn’t like everyone knowing his name. Yet it’s those people who might prove to be his friends, since someone flat out tells him later in the book: “No one likes you, Eddie. You’re an unbearable prick.”
DC Vertigo
Starks hasn’t lost his taste for black humor, as End of Life features quite a few solid zingers. One moment that had me cackling comes early in the issue, when Eddie seeks out his signature brand of cigarettes; immediately, his mind conjures up a scenario where someone gets wind of this and sets out to kill him. Eddie is also fairly blunt, calling one of the people at the market a “wood pervert” for his intricate carvings. That’s to say nothing of the final pages, which tease an antagonist with a name that has to be seen to be believed – and is the perfect fit for this kind of book.
The humor only lands as well as it does thanks to Pugh’s art, which is further enhanced by Chris O’Halloran’s colors and Becca Carey’s lettering. A key moment centers on Eddie learning that his father lied to his childhood crush, Sophie, about what he does for a living. The death glare Eddie shoots his father actually feels like one, thanks to O’Halloran shading the panel in an angry red. Prior to that, Eddie walks away cursing after hearing more praise for his father, and Carey makes sure his word balloons are big and chock full of asterisks, indicating exactly what he thinks of his dad.
End of Life #2 keeps up its mix of brutal violence and black humor, but also adds a dash of character introspection into the process. I hope the next issue keeps this approach, especially with the aforementioned surprise those final pages are packing.
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