RETRO REVIEW: Over My Dead Body

Image Comics; $16.99

I truly have no idea how I missed this original graphic novel either when it was solicited in the October 2019 Previews or when it was released in January 2020. I’d love to blame COVID, but that wasn’t it. Maybe I was wrapped up in the 50th anniversary of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide (That, at least, seems likely).

Whatever the reason, I missed it. And until we posted my Retro Reviews of Near Death – Volume 1 and then Near Death – Volume 2, I had no idea Over My Dead Body even existed.

As mistakes go, this one brought with it a lot of joy. A whole new chapter in the life of Markham, the assassin-turned-protector who’s trying to balance his scales!

When writer Jay Faerber and artist Simone Guglielmini first introduced us to Markham, he was a professional killer who had a near-death experience following a hit gone wrong. He might have only been dead for a minute, but his vision of all the people he had killed waiting for him – that certainly sounds like Hell – altered his life.

He really hadn’t confronted the amorality of his own beliefs, but he knew he didn’t want to end up there. So he set about saving a life for every one he had taken in hopes of balancing out his past deeds.

In the space of the 11 original issues collected in the two Near Death volumes, we got an intriguing premise that paid off in solid stories from Faerber and Guglielmini. They did the job of all great comic books; they left us wanting more.

As the series progressed, Markham was forced to explore the implications of his previous career. It wasn’t a philosophical deep dive – there was always a lot of action to keep things interesting – but it was a constant background. Things were not as simple as Markham had believed.

Over My Dead Body starts with Markham in prison. The only way he could get his former boss to stop paying for others (instead of him) to kill people was to confess to what he had done for his old employer, sending both of them to jail.  

Only someone wants him out of prison to help another person. The great twist on the genre is that it’s the Warden who wants Markham free. The Warden’s daughter has fallen for a very dangerous, newly-released convict.

Faerber and Guglielmini pick up right where they left off, as if they never stopped working on this series. It’s moody, evocative, accessible, and intriguing. I continue to be mystified that Markham’s adventures aren’t a TV series, but I’m ecstatic that he’s made a return to comics.

More, please!

– J.C. Vaughn