Gail Simone is a true master of the story telling device
“the plot thickens”.  This is only the 3^rd
issue of this mini-series and she has packed so much story into this series so
far.  She is also doing a great job of
balancing all the characters which is no easy task with an ensemble cast.

The story behind the villain of this story could have easily
been written off as a cliché.  But Simone
takes us down some dark places as we see the true nature of this villain.  We also find out pretty quick how he got this
way.  This new character she’s introduced
is really powerful and it leads to some disturbing uses of his powers.  This issue is really about him as the other
characters can do little else but be reactive to the events unfolding before
them.

Domingues’ art is growing on me a little but there are still
some places I feel he can improve. 
However, there is one scene between Henry Hate and Zombie Zeke that he
illustrates which was hilarious!  I’d
call it Simone’s obligatory humor scene but I think that comes off as
negative.  And believe me there is
nothing negative about Simone’s humor. 
She comes up with some fun scenes (wait until you see the in-comic
“advertisement”).

The issue also has a great cliffhanger.  Any time the survival of any of the characters
comes into question, it’s a great cliffhanger. 
Plus, with the way Simone has presented our villain, the act he performs
at the end is truly wicked and comes after some intense build-up in the story.

One Foot in the Grave seems to be focusing on our new
villain more than the citizens of Tranquility. 
This may make the difference for new readers because they’re learning
about this new character as older fans do the same.  It’s almost as if he’s the window into this
story.  I hope people are giving this title
a try.  It is proving to be a solid read
each month.