Dying is Easy
Syd Holmes used to be a homicide detective. Now he’s hustling for laughs at some of the seediest comedy clubs in New York City. If that didn’t sound bad enough, another stand-up comic by the name of Carl Dixon is about to get his big shot on Leno, and he’s managed to do it by stealing other comedians’ jokes. Including Syd’s. This leads to Syd joking with some of his friends about how much it would cost to hire a hitman to take out Carl. It’s hilarious stuff until the cops come calling the following day to arrest Syd for Carl’s murder. Now Syd is going to have to use every bit of ingenuity he can muster, as well as his rusty detective skills, to find the real killer and clear his name.
At one point in “Dying is Easy,” a character remarks about how someone thinks that there’s still a market for dumb 80’s cop comedies with big action scenes and mouthy tough guys. Swap out the 80’s for the 90’s and that’s a pretty spot-on approximation of the vibe that writer Joe Hill and artist Martin Simmonds are trying to capture here. While Hill’s work in comics has always had a supernatural or horror vibe to it, he transitions pretty seamlessly to the action/comedy genre with this graphic novel. He delivers a satisfyingly twisty and action-packed story with a likeably snarky lead who has just enough tragedy in his past to earn the reader’s sympathy. Granted, if you were old enough to stay up late night watching cable in the 90’s then you’ve likely already seen some version of this plot, but this is a better-than-average take on it.
Hill and Simmonds also do a good job of grounding this story in the era. As the 90’s are a firmly nostalgic era for me, it was nice to read a story that felt like it came from the era without feeling outdated. Simmonds’ art helps with that as he gives the story an appreciably gritty vibe that’s appropriate to the overall tone of things. It leads to an ending that’s suggestive of more adventures for Syd, which is certainly an easy proposition to accept after his solid debut here.