Many people are aware of Lady Death, but most people don’t know her best stories in the Coffin Comics era. For that matter, most people don’t really have access to her origins… legally. But in the 15th and 16th chapters of the Coffin Lady Death saga, they can get the best idea.
Best Lady Death Comics Before Coffin
For any first-timers, Lady Death was once Hope, the daughter of a brutal and abusive Swedish warlord Matthias. While the power mad sorcerer made everybody miserable, Hope had the worst of it. Matthias’ actions isolated Hope from everyone save for a couple of exceptions. But when the town revolted and Matthias escaped into Hell, Hope was about to be burned alive in his place. So she followed Matthias’ escape plan and ended up in Hell. But in a realm full of abusers and Matthias becoming a demon, Hope had to change herself. With no one else left to comfort her, she hardened and fought back against everyone in her way. Until the newly branded Lady Death eventually succeeds where Matthias failed; taking over Hell.
But for her reward, Lady Death was cursed to stay in Hell. The only way she could go back to the mortal realm was if she killed everyone on Earth. Something that Lady Death was more than willing to do since humanity never tried to help her. But she eventually found a way around that, burning out from her rage as a result. Without this desperate need for independence, Lady Death lost her sense of purpose.
Retcons Aren’t The Problem
This is an extremely brief description without a lot of the baggage of retcons and new publishers. With Lady Death’s original publisher Chaos! Comics going bankrupt, Lady Death had to find different directions. But the CrossGen and Avatar/Boundless series felt like hollow covers of Lady Death’s ballad. Either due to retcons that remove the sense of scale or weak supporting characters and antagonists.
Even when Coffin Comics emerges, Lady Death’s newest continuity felt like another Death Metal cover. Personally, I felt like there were a lot of jumping-the-shark moments around a compelling mystery about Lady Death’s past. Even that didn’t get a good payoff with the Death Goddess having two adult children and an overhyped parentage. Not to mention when trying to go back to basics, it doesn’t have the same sense of desperation in the outrage.
The Turning Point
So who better to get Lady Death on track than her resurrected father? You see, this group called the HALO Corporation used Lady Death’s genetics to harness her magic. Frankly, it feels like satire of the Lady Death IP changing hands and making lesser copies of her. So when things don’t go right, HALO makes Matthias CEO to clean up their mess.
True to fashion, Matthias does everything to destroy his daughter in Necrotic Genesis. Not only exploiting the witches with Lady Death’s magic for demonic material, but creating a perfect clone of Lady Death’s old identity Hope through it. By capitalizing on Lady Death’s infamy and the escaped White Reaper clones of her, this Lady Virtue becomes the daughter Matthias always wanted.
Why This Is The Best Lady Death Coffin
Let’s take another look at the White Reapers. They’re clones of a powerful goddess who have been experimented on to commodify Hope’s trauma. The reapers can’t control their magic after escaping from HALO’s facilities, putting themselves and everyone else at risk. Combine that with how Lady Death wreaks havoc wherever she goes, Lady Virtue looks like a saintly hero.
Now imagine how Lady Death feels about all of this. Matthias is triggering every trauma he inflicted on his daughter through these echoes of her. Including one Lady Death thought she was safe from. Lady Virtue is basically what would happen if Matias groomed Lady Death into being his puppet. And the psychopathic Matthias did it all without needing to put up the act of being a parent. Even worse is how Matthias gives Lady Virtue poisonous power meant to kill Lady Death. In other words, killing off any resilience Hope would have had to his growing power.
Purpose Beyond
One of the reasons I became a fan of this death goddess is her journey. Most people might know Lady Death as THE Bad Girl, defying every expected role from the way she acts to how she dresses. But Lady Death at her best is not a story of self-indulgence and petty vengeance, it’s about recognizing helplessness. Hope was denied love time and again, and despite gaining great and powerful positions, all it ever gets her are more enemies. All the stress of needing to keep her independence comes with periods of burnout. There are even times where she indulges in her power like an addiction. Only to recognize that it’s similar to how people would use and abuse Hope for their own ends.
So when Matthias finds a newer “safer” way to abuse his daughter, Lady Death comes in with a vengeance. Thanks to people who save her life, as well as her own lived experiences, Lady Death manages to overcome these shadows in Diabolical Harvest. But while this is worth celebrating, echoes of Hope’s trauma is still out there. From Matthias at large, HALO Corporation recovering from his hostile takeover, and a demon sorcerer with his own agenda. But Lady Death’s greatest wall is her reputation.
The Best Coffin Lady Death Comics Are To Come
The Diva of Death can’t be that genocidal world ender any longer because she isn’t bound by a curse anymore. To get great stories she needs a drive that’s both external and internal. In my opinion, most stories were made flying by the seat of the makers’ pants. Too much spoiling the moment with flashy reveals and transitions instead of organic growth. Chapters 15 and 16 meanwhile feel like a natural growth because they redirect the Lady Death to a familiar but new path. Honestly that’s the most heavy metal thing about it, disruptive to its status quo without losing its aggression. But where does it go from there? Disrupting the status quo for the sake of it like most mainstream comics?
Trauma, regression, and the fight against them always seem to be at the heart of Lady Death. These are lifelong afflictions that people deal with on a regular basis. For someone always fighting for her autonomy like Lady Death, fighting against yourself is a given. Sometimes that’s your reputation or your defense mechanisms. Those are things people like Matthias and Hellwitch are more than likely to exploit. Just because you can be aggressive doesn’t mean you can’t find peace. It’s the first and last stage of anyone’s independence.
Thanks for coming to the end. As always, remember to look between the panels.