Many Deaths of Laila Starr

Product Information

I'm very happy that my first blind grab this year was this title. I don't think I've been as pleasantly surprised by a one volume story since I read Daytripper a decade ago. No, Munmun! No, it’s not! Things are meant to die. That was my job and I was very good at it, you see? Estos cómics son una obra maestra. Son hermosos y te dejan con una sensación de lo hermosa que es la vida y los pequeños momentos que la hacen lo que es. The art is oddly disconcerting, with rubbery bodies and very cool settings. But the colors are SUBLIME. Also, we have an Eastern pantheon of gods? Love!! What a great conclusion to the series. It definitely felt like the whole series culminated perfectly in this moment.

This is what I have learned in all my years, Laila Starr. We are strong, all mortal things. We live because we truly desire to. Do you understand? Each heartbeat, every breath— is a rejection of death». Also, because of the repetitive nature of the story, I didn't find anything interesting or exciting in the plot. The premise is very interesting and unique as it’s about the God of Death being fired as someone who invents immortality is born. I found the writing to be excellent and there is a flex of their strength and confidence in their writing skills in some issues where you’ll have side characters such as; a cigarette box narrating some of the events and for these bits to be massive highlights of the book overall. I also enjoyed the story being told and the themes that can be extracted including the moral of it, too. Death is the scariest concept to me and I think of frequently on a daily basis so parts of this book made me very depressed and miserable. However, the ending was really beneficial for coming to terms with your mortality which I appreciated as I’d be a waterworks mess if not. (Not a bad thing as I like sad art, just describing my thoughts and feelings about this book). Thought-provoking, touching, and bittersweet, this was a worthwhile exploration of life, death, and all that they could mean. So the skinny gist is that the goddess of Death is forced into early retirement because it looks like a baby has been born who will introduce immortality to the humans. She gets put into the body of a young woman who just died. Enter Laila Starr.

Table of Contents

The Eisner-nominated, definitive hardcover collection of the tragic and enchanting story of death and immortality from award-winning writer Ram V! Unfortunately, it was just ok for me. The artwork was not my thing and really brought down my enjoyment. We were also introduced to several characters where I never felt like we got to know them. All in all if you’d like to read something that discusses mortality or uses Hinduism in a fun way similar to how Greek and Norse mythology are used in today’s popular culture, then this is a great book. It’s a really good read. Struggling with her new-found mortality, Laila has found a way to be placed in the time and place where the creator of immortality will be born…

Plus, I’m glad it represented Hinduism well and Indian culture in a authentic fashion as it’s not a common occurrence in western media. (It’s nice to be seen, especially if it’s executed with the highest merits as opposed to diversity for the sake of it). This is since, I feel brown people often get left behind in the discourse of social justice as there is a tiered hierarchy involved within social justice issues. Laila Starr” is so many things at once that if you don’t read it in the right headspace or you rush through it, it becomes a little forgettable. Instead, take your time, and savor the art, the writing and, well, everything else — the graphic novel has a lot of things going on. However, “Laila Starr” is more than the sum of its parts; its sleeper diasporic cultural references, gorgeously fluid art and Hindu mythology-inspired storyline work to create something bigger. In teaching an immortal being what it means to die, the anomalous graphic novel series gives readers a new lens on living.Told with the tone of a fairy tale or fable, this story strikes me as something Neil Gaiman could have written, though he might have side-stepped the chapter narrated by a cigarette. And he probably would not have side-stepped the advancements or changes in the world that should be evident in a timeline that runs all the way up through the 2080s. Humanity is on the verge of discovering immortality, which means the avatar of Death is out of a job… or is she?