Dceased 3 page 22 by Trevor Hairsine &

Dceased is one of my favorite DC titles/What if/Elseworlds type of alternate realities in years.It's a bit more complex than this but the elevator pitch would be "what if there was a zombie plague in the DC universe?".(and yes, super powered individuals can get infected).Another must read from Tom Taylor, one of the most talented "recent" writers to emerge in the industry. My own interest in horror has never been in the shock value but how do the characters cope with the new situation imposed on them. And while the action is amazing in Dceased, I find that the emotional beats are as if not more satisfying to read.The amazing art by Trevor Hairsine and Stefano Gaudanio, just gritty, scratchy like it should be, suits the project perfectly and really add a fantastic layer of enjoyment to it.

This is the last page of this great emotional sequence and of the book. And this page is indeed quite emotional.

We have seen Clark's grief in the previous page, which was heart shattering in itself but within families, grief is often a burden you don't experience alone. And it adds another layer of emotional intensity to experience that of others on top of one's own. Case in point Clark having to face his mother about his father's fate. And his own guilt about not having been able to prevent it.

The first two panel with Clark struggling with his own emotions and not talking about it up front are again superbly handled. And Ma's reaction is as intense as you could imagine. The horror is too deep to address it.

And then in the last two panels, they do address the horror only for Clark to basically admit that there is nothing (he could) to do (but to leave Pa and the family house behind).

Clark's face in the third panel is fantastic at expressing his grief and you can tell how delicately comforting he is trying to be while holding his grieving mother.

Fantastic stuff from all the creative team, including, yes Ruben ;), the expert textured inks of Gaudanio, who seems to be the go to inker in terms of horror titles these days. And rightly so.

You can see how it made sense to me to buy these 4 pages as I consider them to be a whole.

2023 update: while meeting Trevor during the Autumn 2023 Facts convention, he told me that this whole sequence was his and Tom Taylor's favorite of the whole series. To the point he was persuaded that he gifted all the originals to Tom. A very gratifying and validating conversation and information for this collector.