The Many Deaths of Laila Starr #5

The Many Deaths of Laila Starr

by Ram V, Filipe Andrade (Cover Art)

What will Laila Starr do when she's finally given the chance to resume the mantle of Death?

Finding herself back in the world, Laila searches out Darius and discovers that for the first time she will be witnessing the death of someone close to her.

When they are both given a chance at immortality, their individual decisions lead to a surprising and touching series finale.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Bande Dessinée, Mythology, Gods, Graphic Novels Comics

25 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2021

About the author

Ram V (Ramnarayan Venkatesan) is an author and comic book writer from Mumbai, India. His comics career began in 2012 with the award-nominated Indian comic series, Aghori. A graduate of the City University of London’s Creative Writing MA, he has since created the critically acclaimed Black Mumba and the fantasy adventure series, Brigands.

Reviews

[Saiesha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I now have a poet to look up and read, and the end of a story that was so brilliantly unhinged that I am not upset we did not get a fairytale ending. The moral is a nostalgia from my childhood where every tragedy had a lesson.

A ride I would gladly take again with this series.

[Lena , süße Maus · Rating 3 out of 5]

maybe death is the friend we made along the way heart emoji

[solène · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who is to say exactly how things end? If there is one thing we have learned, it is that life's endings are bereft of answers. [...] Perhaps it is enough to remember at story's end the miracle that it was simply yo have lived.

I'm ugly crying so badly I can't even properly type a review. This series gave me goosebumps from start to finish, and it's so well-written, and the artwork is simply stunning, and the characters are all so well-built, I feel like it's going to be a while before I find such a beautiful story again.

If life is an exercise in building memories, no one really goes away as long as they're remembered.

[Suhasa · Rating 4 out of 5]

An emotional story told with some amazing illustrations!

"i want to arrive at the end
with scars to show
for rash decisions made
by a careless heart"
- scars, akur puri.

[Agirlcandream · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a beautiful ending to this series. Death and its meaning in our lives. I now have to find the poet Akur Puri and read their work. A deeply moving finale. Thanks for the rec, Corrie. I loved these stories.

[Sans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok OW.

[Nikita Afsar · Rating 5 out of 5]

SOBBINGGG

[Jasmin · Rating 5 out of 5]

ohhhhhh i get it

[Kathleen Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great conclusion to the series. It definitely felt like the whole series culminated perfectly in this moment.

The miracle isn't to live forever, it is to simply live at all. Life is the miracle, no matter the length. And just to reflect for a moment on the arc as a whole: Laila and Darius had great character arcs told through some of the most stunning lines and colors I've ever seen. The atmosphere of The Many Deaths was perfectly dreamlike, highlighting the untouchable beauty of life itself and what it means to truly live.

[Sofía · Rating 5 out of 5]

«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».

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.

«Perhaps it is enough to remember at story's end the miracle that it was simply to have lived».

[Tawfek · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is what I have learned in all my years. We are strong, all mortal things. We live because we truly desire to. Each heartbeat, every breath, is a rejection of death.

I am just too good, I pretty much spoiled what happens in this issue in the review of last issue, just on pure predication lol
But I don't think I predict these stories because they are predictable or bad, they are perfect, and it could go various ways, a reader who has been around as long as me, can make a good prediction, can actually write an ending to the story if the writer never ends it, might not be as refined writing as Ram V's but it will be as satisfying and as final.
I will read Ram V again sometime next month, the graphic novel that my friend Jonathan recommended, I knew about Laila Starr for a long time, but that Graphic novel I knew nothing of.
Anyway I wanted to start today's 2 comic reads with this one, because I am not sure I'll have time to read the second.
A final thought, this story was Indian, it had the soul of the refined arts of India, and there is about a billion and a half humans there, with so many great writers, that write only in their own language, novels we might never read, even if they get translated we might never know about them.
I know for a fact that the Arab Book scene doesn't have that many translated even to the most celebrated Indian writer ever.
What I want to say, I'll be on the lookout, and if you enjoyed this as much as me, be on the lookout too!

[Corrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Many Deaths of Laila Starr by Ram V (script), Filipe Andrade (artwork), Inês Amaro (coloring).

The Goddess of Death gets fired and is sent to earth as a mortal. Hijinks ensue.

In the final Chapter 5 Poetry we are 28 years down the road. Laila travels south to Goa to have a final meet up with Darius, now an old man fixing broken and sick animals. Being mortal (and dying 6 times already) has changed Laila in many ways. She doesn’t much care for her former job or the gods anymore. As Darius is dying he confesses something to Laila.

I loved this! A beautiful ending to a gorgious story.

5 Stars

[Aryanna Tunstall · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an amazing book with beautiful imagery and colors that pop off of the pages. Laila doesn’t know what she wants when she’s fired and cast down. She wants her job back. She wants to stop Darius. She wants to know the real reason behind life but above all she needs to experience mortality. She needed this experience to understand humans. She needed to experience the heart ache of death ist a all other humans do.

[Hector · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hermoso libro, de comienzo a fin. Te hace reir, te hace llorar, te hace querer leer poesía. Te encariñas con los protagonistas a pesar de que solo uno de los dos puede ganar. Cada capítulo es una joya en sí, incluyendo uno desde el punto de vista de un cigarrillo (!)
El arte es brillante y encaja perfecto con la historia.

[Rosa Rodriguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Literally such a good series.
I mean the fact that it seems there was no real invention of immortality, it just seems they both, Darius and Laila, found out the real meaning was it is to be alive, and what it means to live. And I really enjoyed that, actually made me tear up.

[a ☕︎ · Rating 2 out of 5]

ram v’s writing is sort of boring anyways, but he really doubled down in this issue and made it absolutely characterless. a hundred directions he could have gone in and he chose none of them. spare me…

[PuniPoli · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tener la cura en tus manos y no ofrecerla para el que quiera usarla en serio? Y colorearlo todo con palabritas filosóficas, que absurdez ..avancen con la ciencia y dejen la bobería ..que final más decepcionante, con lo que prometía el comic

[Ria · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful end to a beautiful series of stories that stand alone well along with coming together beautifully. This is a story that discusses grief, loss and how sometimes we get so caught up in things we forget how beautiful and miraculous life is just on its own. Would definitely recommend :)

[Marine R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Une beauté, autant dans les illustrations avec ce graphisme et ces couleurs rendant le tout spectaculaire, que dans son récit narrant le parcours d'une déesse déchue découvrant ce que la mortalité a à nous apporter.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful
I should read more comics

[Tanvi · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a lovely end to one of the most beautiful comics I've ever read. Anything I said about this would be considered a spoiler, but this was my favorite out of all of them. A very satisfying end.

[Kay ☾ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is it bad that I want more? Initially I wasn't going to continue this series. I am glad I did though, beautiful story combined with amazing imagery.

[Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

A series I picked up on a whim that rapidly became one of my favorites, I was truly eager for the next issue every time. It's a beautiful story with beautiful art.

[Lunneuh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is just a remember to live your life happier. But with an esthetic gorgeous, that transports you.

[Régine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous and transcendent.

[Mohammed Zain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best series of 2021

[Meaghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very poignant and emotional as always but could have done without the rupi kaur bits! Hope this is not the end of the series ❤

[Jai · Rating 5 out of 5]

A pretty good ending to the series

[Shruti Bhat · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful end to a truly beautiful series. Everything about this series, the art, the story, the composition was beautiful. *Sigh*

[mars · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow im fucking crying--definitely my fav comic to come out last year