Day of the Dead Girl #1: Death is the Beginning
Creative Team
writers: AJ MENDEZ & AIMEE GARCIA
artist: BELÉN CULEBRAS
colorist: DEARBHLA KELLY
letterer: SHAWN LEE
publisher: MAGMA COMIX
Reviewed by Seth Adrian Romo
Day of the Dead Girl #1 offers an exciting blend of magical realism and mystery for a read that cleverly weaves themes of family and mortality. It’s entertaining and full of unexpected turns.
After losing her dream job, Sam Castillo begrudgingly moves back home with her mother—a coven leader and firm believer in the supernatural. Despite Sam’s cynical take on death as a coroner, their opposing ideologies intertwine when a mysterious body is found.
The issue opens up to a Día de Muertos festival and the opening line, “Death is never the end of the story.” It’s a clever piece of dialogue and serves a dual purpose for this series debut from Magma Comix. While the Mexican cultural celebration gets its time to be seen and explained, it’s also done in a way that doesn’t feel gimmicky and doesn’t become the focal point of the story. Instead the vibrant festival gives readers a moment to see the tension between Sam and her mom as they differ on supernatural beliefs and hard science. This conflict is consistent throughout this issue and serves as a foundation for the larger story.
Written by AJ Mendez and Aimee Garcia, the two have put together a story that is well-paced, interesting, and keeps the reader engaged. The writing is strong in how the issue balances family drama and mystery, and while Sam is the snarky cynical younger member of the family unit, the way in which her beliefs will be challenged give plenty of room for a solid character arc.
In addition to the bright opening pages and conversations between Sam and her Mom as Sam moves back into her old twin-sized bed, there are lots of little details in the script and with the visuals as well.
Artist Belén Culebras knows how to fill a panel perfectly and the attention to small background elements like partygoers at the celebration or eerie faces once the tone shifts, are all well-done and further elevate the experience. There’s also an excellent stylistic method that becomes more clear once the story shifts and reveals a faceless character. What was once panels filled with background characters and tchotchkes in the family home, changes to empty ugly rooms once the mystery begins.
This is aided by the colors from Dearbhla Kelly whose work perfectly matches the illustrations from Culebras. Colors play an important role in Mexican culture and Kelly nails it within the first few pages. There’s also drab and dreary moments in this issue that benefit from Kelly’s palette of grays such as the interior of the morgue where Sam is currently working.
This issue manages to incorporate various themes without creating confusion or disinterest and presents a solid beginning for this mystery/thriller. There are some areas in which the experience has room to grow—specifically in the dialogue. Some readers may find back and forth discussions between different characters to feel forced or overdone, but it’s easy to move past as the story does more than enough to have plenty of plot points for the reader to focus on.
Final Verdict
This debut issue is a colorful and mysterious experience and cleverly sets the stage for what promises to be an exciting journey of death in its many forms.
| Criteria | Score |
|---|---|
| Writing | 9.00 |
| Story/Plot | 9.00 |
| Art/Line Work | 9.75 |
| Colors | 9.75 |
| Final Score | 9.4/10 |