We Only Find Them When They're Dead #1

We Only Find Them When They're Dead (Single Issues) #1

by Al Ewing, Simone Di Meo (Illustrator & Cover)

For fans of Decorum and Something is Killing the Children comes a new sci-fi epic from Al Ewing (Immortal Hulk) and Simone Di Meo (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers). Captain Malik and the crew of the Vihaan II harvest resources from the giant corpses of alien gods found on the edge of human space. While other autopsy ships race to salvage the meat, minerals, and metals that sustain the human race, Malik sees an opportunity to finally break free from this system by being the first to find a living god. But Malik's obsession with the gods will push his crew into danger at the darkest reaches of space and face -- unless the rogue agent on their trail can stop them first...

Genres: Comics, Science Fiction, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Space Opera, Graphic Novels Comics

34 pages, Unknown Binding

First published September 2, 2020

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The gist (I think) of this is that these giant gods are all dead and floating around in space.
Their body parts are worth money, so sanctioned scavengers chop hunks off of them and sell it. But only since only certain ships have permission for certain body parts, and some body parts are worth more money than others, you have skirmishes at the sites.



There's a captain with a past, who (with his crew) is planning something. And some kind of a crooked asshole-y officer in charge of policing the scavenger ships, who has a past with this same captain.
Not a bad first issue, all in all.
I'm interested in seeing what's going on and what's going to happen next.



This issue was a Bonus Borrow on Hoopla, which was cool since I'd been on the fence about whether or not this sounded like something I'd enjoy. I'm glad I grabbed the freebie because I really liked it, so I think I'm going to go ahead and check out the full volume.

[Whitney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun concept with beautiful art but heavy hand holding. Are the gods aka aliens actually dead?

[Shadowdenizen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent debut issue.

While it didn't quite capture me as "Outer Darkness" or some other titles did, there's definitely an intriguing premise here. And the art catapults the book to the next level.

I'll stick with it for the first arc, see how things develop...

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting first issue. Really cool concept/idea Ewing has going here with some amazing artwork. Multiple ships 300 years in the future all mining these “gods”. Giant dead people floating in space. Squabbles happening over territory claims of the body and a security/police person watching over the hole things keeping everybody honest. Intriguing connection between our Captain ( seems like the main character) and this police chick. But once our crews ship does it’s hyper jump, when no one listening in can hear them, a wild revelation is made once we learn their real plan. Excited to see this series through.

[Oneirosophos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Must.

[Bonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really unique premise! Great art and a compelling story. I'm interested to see where this goes as the debut issue didn't have as much development as I was hoping. Definitely sci-fi epic.

[RG · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scifi epic at its best!! And the art is amazing

[Lindsi (Do You Dog-ear?) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review for #1-3: I went into this series knowing very little about it, but I was pleasantly surprised by the story! It's a little hard to get into at first, but that's because it takes place in the future and the characters use terminology I'm not familiar with. I'm still not 100% sure what the bells mean, or what they're used for, but I think it has something to do with when they're allowed to start slicing and dicing in space. I wish we'd been given more background information on the world and how it had changed over time, and more character development would've been appreciated. We only get glimpses into their personal lives (sadly there were no flashbacks to the distant past), which made it hard to connect with them in the present.

The illustrations were phenomenal. I am obsessed with Simone Di Meo and cannot wait to see how she portrays people and places in future issues. Seriously, the artwork was stunning. Gorgeous coloring, breathtaking details, and even the morbid parts were beautifully conveyed. I just wish the characters had been written as well as they'd been drawn.

I'm always willing to give stories a few issues to find their rhythm, but I was super invested in this one from the start. However, the most recent issue (that I've read) really bummed me out. This one character's need for vengeance was fierce, but we don't really know why she's so obsessed with blowing this other character to smithereens. It seemed to be her sole purpose in life - innocent bystanders be damned - and it just wasn't believable with what little information we did have.

I was disappointed by the turn of events and felt like Ewing rushed the characters from point A to point B without much explanation. I get that they need to do the thing, but I'm still unsure about the why. A lot happened really quickly, and I wish the author had taken their time getting there. All in all, I'm happy with the series so far and looking forward to seeing where the story goes from here, but really hope Ewing explains more while doing less. (★★★★☆)

Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Bloglovin' | Amazon | Pinterest

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has such a strange and unique premise. The imagination involved is incredible! I'm not sure I'm completely sold on it yet but it is different and weird enough to have me intrigued. Where could this story be going? I truly have no clue.

[20hrsinamerica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting. I admit to being curious, but I'm not sure I want to buy issue by issue.

[Carly McCracken · Rating 2 out of 5]

While for the most part visually stunning. The intense lighting in panels can cause a lack of detail that is needed for the plot. I didn't know exactly what was happening during intense scenes because I couldn't see it. Also, the Richter storyline was a bit too cliche. Why can't she just be a power-obsessed cop? Why does her whole story have to revolve around the loss of a man?
All in all the storyline had promise but they need to balance the amount of light and give their female character better backstories.

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Depois da CCXP fui conhecer a loja Mundos Infinitos, em São Paulo, e lá recebi dois exemplares exclusivos do dia do quadrinho grátis, que tinha sobrado da Virada Nerd realizada no final de novembro. Nós só os vemos na morte é um quadrinho do roteirista bem conceituado e que eu em geral gosto bastante dos trabalhos, Al Ewing e desenhada por Simone DiMeo, que desenhou Power Rangers e vários materiais do Universo do Batman. Em geral não curto o trabalho de DiMeo. A trama deste quadrinho não é suficiente para entender do que se trata e, se for somente isso que esse tira-gosto traz deve ser bem ruim. Existe ali alguma inspiração em Power Rangers: as cores dos personagens, o fato de tripularem naves e procurarem seres enormes. No caso, esses seres já foram deuses, mas a equipe sempre encontrou-os mortos. Aquela era a primeira vez que encontravam um vivo. Mas por que isso deveria preocupar o leitor? Não sei, não entendi. Por que eu deveria continuar lendo essa história ou querer mais desses personagens? Não deu pra ir tão profundo assim. Como aperitivo essa edição simplesmente não serviu. Talvez como uma aguinha.

[The Wintermute System · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun science-fiction, and Ewing is hit and miss for me, so I was happy I enjoyed this as much s I did. In this story, people only find these huge gods floating around in space when they're dead; their meat, the metal of their armor, it's all worth a lot of money: legally, people cut away what they can, and they're allowed to, while those less concerned with legalities and more greedy, or ambitious, try to smuggle out illegal finds for the black market.

This crew, the one we follow, is worried because there's more and more ships and crews trying to get to the legal goods - and thus more squabbling and scrutiny as well.

So the question is what do they do about it?

Looking forward to seeing how issues two and three turn out.

[Sean Kottke · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm intrigued enough by issue 1 to give this a shot. It's mostly in media res exposition, setting up plenty of threads to pull on in subsequent issues. The concept of harvesting material from the corpses of dead alien gods seems like it might turn into a sci-fi exploration of contemporary issues surrounding fossil fuels and alternative energy, and it strikes me as a non-satiric, non-theological approach into some of the territory explored in James Morrow's Godhead Trilogy.

[Niche · Rating 2 out of 5]

This feels like someone read Moby Dick and thought "what if Ahab worshipped the whale instead... and also the whales are giant space ladies." Keeping that theme, the monomaniac this time around is a cop chasing them.

[Andy Hickman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unique and peculiar futuristic sci-fi similar in vibe to Dune (but not planetary). Autopsy space crews harvest the giant corpses of alien gods on the edge of space.
Ch1 – Eight Bells, All’s Well.
The year was 2323. “I remember the first time I saw a god.”

[Doctor Action · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cheesy space stuff with a great premise. Very tasty, clean art. Really enjoyed it. Very promising.

[Khabeer Rashad · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great start.

[Kevin Schnurr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Art and story are both exceptional!

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Lukas Holmes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best story ideas I have ever heard and I am so eager to read the whole series. First issue went super fast, so I hope we get to see the rest of the world and soon.

[Patrick Cavins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up looking for another series to take the place of outer darkness in my reading rotation. It’s not quite there but I enjoyed the #1 issue quite a bit.

[A.J. O. Mason · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

[Buddy Scalera · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent first issue that lays out a clever high concept for a science fiction series. It feels very much like a Jack Kirby concept from the mid-70s, but delivered for a modern audience.

[Dannie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is fascinating! I love it and will definitely be picking up the rest of the series.

[Mark L · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting concept.

[Bear Mcbearington · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art is five stars but other than someone quotable lines, the writing just didnt grab me. Felt like it needed more breathing room.

[Becca · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not for me. But the artwork was phenomenal.

[Raymond Paquette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting premise.

[Leandro Cassetta · Rating 3 out of 5]

No es ni de cerca el mejor cómic que leí en mi vida. Pero es hermoso y no puedo negarlo.