LA MUERTA: LAST RITES #1 (graphic novel) by Brian Pulido

 











Story by Brian Puildo.
Written by Mike Maclean.

The Zavalas are a crime cartel with a connection to the occult. That in and of itself is not ridiculous since some of the Mexican cartels have taken advantage of religious symbols and ideas in their propaganda.

Maria Diaz came back from the fighting in Afghanistan to find that the Zavalas killed her entire family. She decided to dress up in a disguise, adopt a new persona and get even, very much like The Punisher. Unlike The Punisher, who wears a skull on this shirt, she paints a skull on her face, Day of the Dead-style.

What follows is an almost constant gun battle interspersed with bombs, acid attacks and more. If you like non-stop action, this book has that in spades. If you like character growth of any sort, you will be disappointed.

Turns out, I value character growth. The Zavalas are not explained, for example. They just keep coming up with more and ever-weirder bad guys, culminating in a big boss bad guy who looks like she was designed by a 12 year old boy with a fascination with BDSM. Seriously, who fights a bomb throwing, pistol-shooting former soldier bent on revenge by wielding an Aztec sword and wearing a teeny tiny leather string bikini with thigh-high stiletto boots?

The art was up and down - sometimes top-notch, sometimes skimped over.

I rate this graphic novel 2 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: LA MUERTA: LAST RITES #1 (graphic novel).

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