AIN’T NO GRAVE #3, by Image Comics on 7/10/24, finds Ryder gambling for her life when the next leg of her journey to confront Death can only be completed by the luck of the draw.
Credits:
- Writer: Skottie Young
- Artist: Jorge Corona
- Colorist: Jean-Francois Beaulieu
- Letterer: Nate Piekos
- Cover Artist: Jorge Corona
- Publisher: Image Comics
- Release Date: July 10, 2024
- Comic Rating: Mature
- Cover Price: $3.99
- Page Count: 36
- Format: Single Issue
Covers:
Analysis of AIN’T NO GRAVE #3:
Plot Analysis:
How’s that for a collection of card game sayings? Skottie Young’s Old West fantasy takes on increasingly surreal tones when Ryder is forced to win a game of chance or become a slave for all eternity. Whatever expectations you had for this series are probably wrong, but this is one of the few cases where misplaced expectations work out in the reader’s favor.
When last we left Ryder in Ain’t No Grave #2, Ryder fought and fled her way through the town of Cypress, a waypoint between the living and the dead. Ryder found a sympathetic soul who pointed the way to her path to find Death, and it led straight to a riverboat where souls make their way to the great beyond. Unfortunately, an errant bullet made Ryder’s leap on board a dicey one.
In Ain’t No Grave #3, the riverboat’s steward greets Ryder with welcome arms since her arrival was foretold. The steward explains he’ll have Ryder’s wounds tended to just before she passes out. In her unconscious state, Ryder remembers an incident with her husband and daughter where her husband chastised her for not keeping their daughter respectable for a forthcoming visit with the bank to save their farm from foreclosure.
Skottie Young uses the flashback as an opportunity to showcase how Ryder’s life of retirement wasn’t always peaceful and free from her past habits. A murderous bandit doesn’t give up on the life of cheating, stealing, and intimidation so easily when the pressures of everyday life creep in.
When Ryder comes to, her wounds are dressed by the riverboat’s doctor and she wears a nifty new set of gambler’s duds. The steward gives Ryder a brief tour of the ship in which she sees all the pleasure and pain in store, setting Ryder’s suspicions on edge about what’s in store. The tour concludes at a private card table with the matriarch of the riverboat, Madam Gates.
Ryder’s tour successfully gives readers a hint into what awaits Ryder if she fails in the next part of her quest. Madam Gates’s exaggerated presence, all frills and smiles, builds tension through unease, which helps heighten the dramatic grip of the issue.
Madam Gates lays out the rules simply – win the game and you get a marker to use for anything you wish, lose the game and you become a permanent slave in the bowels of the riverboat. Ryder doesn’t hesitate to take her seat at the table.
During the game, we get a continuation of the first flashback. Ryder knew there was no way her husband could legitimately get the money to save the farm, so she rides into town alone and pushes her way into a high-stakes card game to get the money she needs.
Now, each of the fellow players falls to Madam Gates’s expert skills, leaving Ryder the last player at the table. The Madam believes she has the winning hand, but Ryder outplays her to win it all. Suddenly, Madam Gates snatches Ryder up to reveal the newcomer has more than a few cards up her sleeve. However, Ryder cleverly argues that the rules never said you couldn’t cheat – a secondary gamble that pays off.
Young uses the parallel plots to show how Ryder is an expert card cheater. In both cases, it pays off, but the seeds of possible long-term consequences are planted and foreshadow a potential judgment in the future.
The issue concludes with belly laughs, gut punches, and a stroll on the beach.
Overall, this is another super-strong issue in Skottie Young’s surprising Old West fantasy fable. The character- and world-building are nothing short of miraculous, and Jorge Corona’s caricature-ish art suits the tone and atmosphere beautifully.
Art Samples:
Final Thoughts:
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AIN’T NO GRAVE #3 is another powerhouse issue in Skottie Young’s eclectic Old West fable about a former outlaw on a quest to confront Death. Young’s character- and world-building are nothing short of mesmerizing, and Jorge Corona’s stylistic art elevates the surreal tone by magnitudes.
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