Name: Die, Volume 4: Bleed
ISBN: 9781534319264

Kieron Gillen

We've had dragons. The award-winning bleakdeconstruction couldn't end without turning its unblinking eye upon a dungeon.There's no escape. There's only down. Collectsissues #16-20 of DIE

Die, Volume 4: Bleed

I finished this 4th volume and wanted to yell at people to read Die. 

This is a series that follows a group of people that as teens got sucked into a D&D game world - Die - and came back out leaving one - who had been the gamemaster - behind and thought dead. After this background is explained, we actually follow them as adults, many years later, when they end up getting sucked back into the game with hopes of finding their lost friend.

Die is a deeply realized setting as a game world (and is a game IRL). There are the different races and areas and states that one would expect, and the rules that are inherent to a D&D playthrough. As much as there are archetypal figures, there's also a lot of subversion. The gods are conceptually interesting, the character classes are original and these differences are actually brought to bear on the plot. The other point that illustrates how idiosyncratic Die is would be the fact that this is a "second run", the characters are coming back to a place where they lived a long time and the consequences of their actions will be there, waiting for their return.

The author includes some story and influences of roleplaying games in both the concept and the plot  of Die and I must say one of the moments where Tolkien and LOTR are brought up had me on the verge of tears. On the other hand. the way that some historical figures are folded into this, to avoid details, was so intellectually satisfying I'm smiling as I write this.

What brings this whole set-up from really good to one of the greats are two things: Kieron Gillen's exploration of role-playing and Stephanie Hans' evocative, emotional, poignant artwork.

Kieron Gillen doesn't torture his characters, he let's them torture themselves and each other. Role-playing here really does take the fantasy to its utmost potential, as the characters are deconstructed by their own choices and the consequences of their actions and have to rebuild themselves around what they have discovered or shown of their selves. Or fail to. What this comes to teach them about identity is really well explored, not only on the most expected topics, like gender and parenting, but also on more nebulous concepts such as self-respect and esteem, on the consequences of mental health disorders, on living for yourself or only for others.

Morality is also deeply considered in Die, not only related to the role-players' choices but even to the gods and the game itself. Don't get me wrong, there is little moralizing, but the inquests are there.

Games are more often than not considered escapist entertainment, but, to bring up the other current cultural piece referencing D&D, the world Die is, at best, upside-down escapism for these people and the demogorgon looks at them from the mirror.

Going back to Stephanie Hans' stellar work, I must say there was a moment when all of this clicked, as I looked at the books, after having reread the first TPB and read the second for the first time, and listened to Kieron Gillen's music playlist for Die. There was an emotional vibrancy that flowed to and through me. I might have just binged the other half of the story right then, but thankfully I decided to take my time, to consider each volume from one day to the next.

All in all, this book looks like it was made for me. I've been a fan of Kieron Gillen for many years now and I loved previous comics illustrated by Stephanie Hans. I am a fan of games, I read almost all the authors and books referenced, Tolkien's LOTR is one of the most important books of my life, I play role-playing videogames regularly. In a first playthrough of a game, I always build a character that acts in a way that reflects me - as much as I can imagine myself in those situations and I've always defended the idea that this can be much more than escapism, that this is a way to get to know oneself, to challenge our own ideas of our morality, of our selfishness, laziness, rashness. The fact that the consequences in-game don't affect a real world, only pixels and NPCs, doesn't necessarily diminish the power of such exploration - in a way it adds to it through freedom, secrecy and the extremity of the challenge.

I'm trying not to yell, but yes, I do very strongly recommend reading Die. I have just discovered there's a new chapter being published right now - Die: Loaded. I will be reading it as soon as I can.

André Nóbrega

I finished this 4th volume and wanted to yell at people to read Die. 

This is a series that follows a group of people that as teens got sucked into a D&D game world - Die - and came back out leaving one - who had been the gamemaster - behind and thought dead. After this background is explained, we actually follow them as adults, many years later, when they end up getting sucked back into the game with hopes of finding their lost friend.

Die is a deeply realized setting as a game world (and is a game IRL). There are the different races and areas and states that one would expect, and the rules that are inherent to a D&D playthrough. As much as there are archetypal figures, there's also a lot of subversion. The gods are conceptually interesting, the character classes are original and these differences are actually brought to bear on the plot. The other point that illustrates how idiosyncratic Die is would be the fact that this is a "second run", the characters are coming back to a place where they lived a long time and the consequences of their actions will be there, waiting for their return.

The author includes some story and influences of roleplaying games in both the concept and the plot  of Die and I must say one of the moments where Tolkien and LOTR are brought up had me on the verge of tears. On the other hand. the way that some historical figures are folded into this, to avoid details, was so intellectually satisfying I'm smiling as I write this.

What brings this whole set-up from really good to one of the greats are two things: Kieron Gillen's exploration of role-playing and Stephanie Hans' evocative, emotional, poignant artwork.

Kieron Gillen doesn't torture his characters, he let's them torture themselves and each other. Role-playing here really does take the fantasy to its utmost potential, as the characters are deconstructed by their own choices and the consequences of their actions and have to rebuild themselves around what they have discovered or shown of their selves. Or fail to. What this comes to teach them about identity is really well explored, not only on the most expected topics, like gender and parenting, but also on more nebulous concepts such as self-respect and esteem, on the consequences of mental health disorders, on living for yourself or only for others.

Morality is also deeply considered in Die, not only related to the role-players' choices but even to the gods and the game itself. Don't get me wrong, there is little moralizing, but the inquests are there.

Games are more often than not considered escapist entertainment, but, to bring up the other current cultural piece referencing D&D, the world Die is, at best, upside-down escapism for these people and the demogorgon looks at them from the mirror.

Going back to Stephanie Hans' stellar work, I must say there was a moment when all of this clicked, as I looked at the books, after having reread the first TPB and read the second for the first time, and listened to Kieron Gillen's music playlist for Die. There was an emotional vibrancy that flowed to and through me. I might have just binged the other half of the story right then, but thankfully I decided to take my time, to consider each volume from one day to the next.

All in all, this book looks like it was made for me. I've been a fan of Kieron Gillen for many years now and I loved previous comics illustrated by Stephanie Hans. I am a fan of games, I read almost all the authors and books referenced, Tolkien's LOTR is one of the most important books of my life, I play role-playing videogames regularly. In a first playthrough of a game, I always build a character that acts in a way that reflects me - as much as I can imagine myself in those situations and I've always defended the idea that this can be much more than escapism, that this is a way to get to know oneself, to challenge our own ideas of our morality, of our selfishness, laziness, rashness. The fact that the consequences in-game don't affect a real world, only pixels and NPCs, doesn't necessarily diminish the power of such exploration - in a way it adds to it through freedom, secrecy and the extremity of the challenge.

I'm trying not to yell, but yes, I do very strongly recommend reading Die. I have just discovered there's a new chapter being published right now - Die: Loaded. I will be reading it as soon as I can.

Die, Volume 4: Bleed

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