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They Do Not Die! is a 72-page black and white graphic novel, written by Scott O. Brown and drawn by Horacio Lalia, that explores the divide between the joy of growing up and the fear of getting older.
Clearly influenced by Invasion of the Body Snatchers and the writings of H.P. Lovecraft, They Do Not Die! stars Megan, a teenager on the verge of adulthood in rural Alabama, with a hard family life but a nice boyfriend, a caring girlfriend, and--soon--a one-way ticket to somewhere, anywhere else. However, Megan’s dreams of freedom are dashed the night of her boyfriend’s eighteenth birthday, when she finds her beau mutilated in the woods. Her life grows more complicated the next day when the bloody boyfriend shows up at her door, decidedly un-bloody, and looking to break up with her. As other kids in town turn eighteen, they begin acting strangely, as well; Megan, who is nearly eighteen herself, races to discover what is happening before she suffers the same fate.
The writing by Scott O. Brown is solid, although the dialogue is predictable and stiff in spots. The highlights are the interactions between Megan and her younger sister, as their situation goes from normal everyday fare to outright danger. The art by Horacio Lalia is gritty and tense, which is perfect for the kind of story being told. Lalia experiments with different panel layouts--sometimes to nice affect, such as the escape from Town Hall. Frequently, it seems as though he’s playing with the panel layouts just for the sake of playing with them, and using the same “stepping stone” technique repeatedly dilutes its impact, detracting a bit from the storytelling.
They Do Not Die! uses the joys of growing up--the dreams of creating your own life, out from under your parents’ oversight, with the people you choose--and the fear of getting older as clever fodder for a story about alienation and paranoia. If there is a failing to this tale, it’s that Brown tips his hand too early; rather than slowly building up the tension and then hurtling full force into the nightmare (a la Invasion of the Body Snatchers), the reader learns within the first four pages that something is seriously wrong in this town. Shave off those first four pages, or introduce them later on, and the story would be much stronger. That said, once the nightmare begins, the pacing is relentless, with bloody betrayals and danger around every corner.
They Do Not Die! begins its online serialization in August at ambrosiapublishing.com.
They Do Not Die!
Written by: Scott O. Brown
Art by: Horacio Lalia
