So far I have enjoyed the ride Driver for the Dead has taken me on. Voodoo magic and the supernatural in the deep south of New Orleans is just such a cool setting and there’s something about the project, a guy who drives the dead to their final resting place that makes you think ‘why hasn’t this been done before?’ That ride concludes in Driver for the Dead #3 and I had big expectations for that conclusion that were not quite met. 

Alabaster Graves, in this issue, not only has to defeat the necromancer Fallow and rescue the girl but must, before he can kill Fallow, defeat a hundred and fifty year old werewolf that holds the key to killing Fallow. That sounds like a fairly epic conclusion, but it’s all over fairly quickly with Graves not breaking much of a sweat during the whole thing. Sure the series has shown that Graves is more than capable of handling himself against vampires and the like but Fallow and the werewolf, the way they were talked up, should have proved more of a challenge for Fallow. As a result the series conclusion lost some of the impact it probably deserved as it was a thoroughly enjoyable voodoo experience. 

Fallow also seemed to have lost some of his personality that was so strong in the first two issues. He pretty much scared the pants off me in the first two yet was also a little bit charming due to his charisma and Southern charm. In this issue he felt bland with only one or two flashes of his personality that I liked so much. Also the whole necrophilia thing was just a little bit too weird for my liking. It didn’t make Fallow creepier in the right way and he also lost some of his mystique by having everything explained away. That explanation along with some exposition on Graves meant that issue dragged a little in the middle. Adding some depth to Graves was nice, it just seemed an odd time to do it unless the series continues later on.   

Even though Alabaster never sounded Cajun enough for me, and Fallow lost a bit of his charm the overall writing in the series was good with each character getting some well written dialogue that gave them some personality and, well, character.  

Luckily any misgivings I had about the story were not echoed in the artwork. It continued to be top notch with plenty of gory action throughout. The werewolf came from classic werewolf design, but it was freaking huge and imposing. The most disappointing aspect of the art was that it wasn’t given the opportunity to present any engaging and compelling fights. Everything was over in a few panels. Still the level of detail throughout the book ranging from the atmospheric backgrounds to vividly expressive facial expressions were a treat and Driver for the Dead certainly did nothing to detract from Radical’s standing as one of the best art studios in the business.   

Driver for the Dead was a fun blast of voodoo action from start to finish. The final issue couldn’t quite reach the heights of issue 1 and 2 but it still delivered the ending you expected. The only question now is will we get to see Alabaster Graves and his pimped out hearse ever again?