For five friends, being trapped in an infinite loop of murder on Prom Night ’97 was living hell. They’re about to find out that being an adult in 2026 is much, much worse. High school seniors J.T., Ryder, and Brandy have been catapulted through time into their adult bodies. Physically, they’re now elder millennials with jobs and families. Psychologically, they’re damaged teenagers with disposable income who are about to discover the consequences of making poor life choices. Even worse, not everyone thinks their new circumstances are an improvement over being ritualistically murdered every 24 hours. Does their never-ending prom night massacre hold the key to finding out how and why they were chosen to live out this supernatural torment? Dead Teenagers #2 is an interesting second issue that builds upon the mystery of what’s going on but doesn’t have the same humor that made the first one entertaining.
Dead Teenagers #2 is an interesting second issue of a series. The concept is simple, a group of teenagers die over and over by some mysterious force. We don’t know why or if it can be stopped. While that could be interesting on its own, the first issue of the series took us through numerous scenarios of exactly how that was happening. Each scenario was more ridiculous than the last and it all came together for a debut that had a sense of humor about itself instead of just delivering straight gory horror. The second issue focuses on one potential path as our group takes stock of what’s going on and attempt to live their lives under this strange circumstance. Beyond an opening scene though, the humor is lacking and overall that shifts the tone of the series.
If you’d ask me to describe the first issue, I’d have said comedic horror. In Dead Teenagers #2, writer Jude Ellison S. Doyle delivers something a bit different narrowing down the focus of the series and overall dialing back the laughs. There’s still some of them, but the comic really focuses on the group living their lives and struggling to remember exactly what’s going on. It’s more of a spotlight on the mystery of it all. While not bad, it’s still a shift with a more serious feel of it all.
The art by Caitlin Yarsky straddles things along with the lettering by Becca Carey. There’s a mix of sadness of what’s going on but there’s still an enthusiasm by some of the characters that matches a bit of the debut issue. What’s interesting too is how mundane things rather are. They’re living their lives and those lives are just rather bland overall. There isn’t a sense of dread or fear, it just is visually. But, still, it feels like a quiet before the storm when it comes to the art and the final few pages delivers that.
While the debut issue delivered laughs, Dead Teenagers #2 goes for a more somber vibe. It’s an interesting shift and we’ll see if the series as a whole goes more towards the horror path as it progresses. It’s an intriguing series overall with a nice mystery to it.
Story: Jude Ellison S. Doyle Art: Caitlin Yarsky Letterer: Becca Carey
Story: 7.5 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.5 Recommendation: Read
Oni Press provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Purchase: Zeus Comics – Kindle
