Suicide is Painless

Blake Undying by Jason Cook, Ezequiel Rubio, Jovanna Plata, Nikki Sherman

Invulnerability, even immortality. Comics are full of it. Bullets bounce off the steel skin of Superman or Luke Cage. Wolverine is chopped into small pieces, only to heal back as good as new. A very useful thing if you are a superhero. But what if you have had enough? What if you want to die?

Blake is a man with a problem. Actually he has so many problems he is suicidal. But his main problem is that he can’t die. Stabbing, electrocution, choking…he has tried them all. Maybe he needs something more exotic like Kryptonite. Maybe he needs to be a superhero.

Blake Undying certainly has an original idea. But it is also very darkly funny. I won’t give away the jokes but pay attention to details in this book…Blake is a man who likes a list. After a shocking and graphic visit to his doctor he finishes by asking for a sick note for work.

The iconoclasm and dark humour of Blake Undying brings to mind a book like Preacher. With The Boys having great success on TV there should be a ready audience for a book like Blake Undying.

Ezequiel Rubio is the artist on the book and he does a great job capturing Blake’s beaten down manner and his threadbare apartment. Lighting is used very effectively to depict the rain soaked city lit by neon signage and he consistently evokes a mood similar to a film like ‘Taxi Driver’.

The iconoclasm and dark humour of Blake Undying brings to mind a book like Preacher. With The Boys having great success on TV there should be a ready audience for a book like Blake Undying.

The book seems to have had a difficult birth, first seeing the light of day in 2008. The first issue can be found on the creators website or on Comixology, but to continue the tale you will need to head to Kickstarter. The campaign will be kicking off on 19th October 2020 so check it out.