I first discovered Britain’s Kieron Gillen around 2014 or so, his authorship on The Wicked + The Divine (or simply W + D) attracting my attention for its rich fantasy world building and clever historical allusions to both past British history and mythology as well as that of the world at large. In many ways Die, started by Gillen in late 2018 with the talented illustrator Stephanie Hans, feels like something of a spiritual successor to The Wicked + The Divine. Much like its predecessor, Die is also a dense, dark fantasy comic series chock full of contemporary cultural critique and bursting at the seams with colorful, eye-catching artwork. But this new tale of Gillen’s is also a unique entity unto itself, more infused with elements of RPG culture, and a bit more expansive in its setting. The time has come then, for a Cryptic Resonations take on the series so far.
Before the premiere of its debut issue, Die was billed by Gillen as “something of a Goth Jumanji.” While this is an amusingly accurate descriptor, the premise for the series is almost more akin to Stephen King’s It. In 1991, 27 years before the main timeline, five friends, Dominic Ash, his sister Angela, Matt, Chuck and Isabelle, and gathered by a sixth, Solomon, at his 16th birthday party. Solomon has somehow created an elaborate, high fantasy role playing game (RPG) for them, involving six different sided dice and the creation of separate, in game personas. As one might imagine from the “Jumanji” part of Gillen’s description, it’s not long after that all six characters are sucked into the alternate game universe of Die. Two years later they return to the “real world,” but for one reason or another, Solomon is missing, still trapped in the world of Die. In 2018, the five are once more summoned to universe they disappeared into as teens by Solomon, only to discover that their old friend, as well as the world they left behind, are far from how they last recalled them.
Aside from an overall interesting plot setup and damn good character development, part of what’s inevitably made Die more and more alluring as it’s progressed is its potent social commentary. I am somewhat reminded of the legendary cult favorite Serial Experiments Lain with Die, as both series strongly address the philosophical issues of identity and the ability to mold it more to the tune of how one truly sees oneself in an alternate, unearthly setting. Each member of the original party of six from 1991 assumes some type of character archetype in the Die universe, granting them unique powers under very specific sets of conditions that could be viewed as extensions or even more accurate manifestations of their real world personalities. Additionally, Die addresses the classic dilemma of “real vs unreal,” as several of its main characters, during their initial visit to the Die universe, made decisions that prove to have had dire consequences and impact upon Die‘s inhabitants upon their return 27 years later. Moreover, as did The Wicked + The Divine, Die also makes occasional reference to classic English literature with clever allusions that will catch the eye of the more attentive reader, featuring characters inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien, Charlotte Brontë, and more.
Any thorough discussion of Die would be incomplete, however, without mention of the astounding artwork of Stephanie Hans, which brings the expansive, fantastical ideas bubbling in Gillen’s head to live in luscious, vivid imagery. The partnership between these two actually precedes Die, as Hans was previously recruited for guest artwork on The Wicked + The Divine‘s 15th issue as well as the series’ 1831 one shot special. It thus makes sense that she and Gillen would then take their camaraderie one step farther into a full fledged, ongoing series, but Die has truly taken Hans’s talents to a new height. Making use of a broad color palette and a gorgeous, painting-like aesthetic, her vast canvassing and vivid attention to detail seals the deal with the depiction of the Die universe as a land of diverse civilizations, peoples, and personalities.
Kieron Gillen was easily one of the most creative talents in the comics medium in the 2010s, and Die shows no signs whatsoever of that tendency or its momentum slowing down in the 2020s. With Stephanie Hans at his side, Gillen is steadily developing yet another exciting, adventure-heavy, edge-of-your-seat fantasy saga that pays strong homage to the literature and mythology of eras past while still sealing everything in a neat, modern package for some biting present-day commentary. In a way, Die seems to tap into some of the best legacies from prior English comic authors like Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman, who also had a tendency of looking back through the pages of eras past as a means of addressing the socio-cultural issues of their own times. But with Gillen’s witty, contemporary dialogue and Hans’s mesmerizing illustrations, Die puts a new spin on this technique that’s entirely its own.
The first two volumes of Die, collecting issues 1 – 10 and the first two story arcs, are now on sale via Image Comics. In the meantime, the third story arc is also currently underway, with issue 12 being the most recent, which will presumably continue for the next few months until 15. If you’re a lover of comic series with phenomenal artwork, rich world building, and an interesting, ensemble cast of characters that provide for much real world commentary, dive into Die 1 now!
Ravana, your host here at Cryptic Resonations, is an avid fan of experimentation in any and all art forms. Black metal, drone music, ultra lyrical hip hop, surrealist film, and transcendentalist poetry particularly tickle his fancy. He resides somewhere deep in the swamps of Southern Florida, where he regularly fends off alligators and bath salt-addled junkies.
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