Dead Boy Detectives #2 – Review

By: Toby Litt (story), Mark Buckingham (pencils), Gary Eskine & Andrew Pepoy (inks), Lee Loughridge (colors)

The Story: A school where mean girls are almost as bad as grim reapers.

The Review: With the first issue of this series, Litt not only revitalized the whimsy of the Dead Boy Detectives, he also reclaimed what makes them profound.  More than ever, you’re aware of Charles and Edwin’s undead nature, as they grimly muse on their murders and uncertain futures.  Yet they retain their youthful enthusiasm and adventurousness, which gives them a distinct resemblance to Coraline, another Neil Gaiman creation.

You’d think Crystal, the dark-haired girl with a slightly rebellious streak and intense curiosity, would be even more of a Coraline figure in the series, but she reveals that she’s not made of quite the same stern stuff.  Her flaws and peculiarities seemingly make her less a heroine than Coraline, but they also make her far more recognizable: her reliance on technology; her escapes into “Yonda,” a fictional MMORPG; her desire to not end up like her parents and her subsequent phobia of too much attention.