Dan the Unharmable #2

By Sharayah Read On July 8, 2012 · Leave a Comment · In Comic Books

Written By: David Lapham
Art By: Rafael Ortiz
Colours By: Digikore Studios
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Last time we left off, Dan was given life changing news: He has grown children, one of which is now at his door, and his not-best pal had been brutally murdered as a message from those hunting his new found offspring. I will warn you now, although I feel it rather obvious, this series is strictly for those who have no boundaries when it comes to humour, gore, and wackiness. Lapham is a genius but, only if you are willing to open yourself up to some pretty intense shit.

In issue 2, which by the way blew my socks square off my feet, Bobo and his cracked out, paraphilic sister, aka Toby’s killers, are revealed as not only crazy but, sex cult members based on an old Valet named Louis and his freaky self help crap, which also happens to involve a monster sized penis. These Onelouis, as they refer themselves, killed Chandra’s (Now renamed Lizzy) mother when she denied them access to her daughter and forced blame on her innocent uncle as well.

This is quite the commitment she is asking of a man as flaky and selfish as Dan: Save the kids, Prove the murder of her mother and thus clear her uncles name. His agreeance does come, hesitantly, and with a hefty price tag considering his lack of sleep, need to travel, and responsibility to support those damn kids.

I love Dan. He has literally no boundaries. He says what he feels and jokes as he pleases. Death and irony aren’t things that phase him, instead he enjoys making fun of the deceased and those who pity their deaths. His ignorance to the world around him is only furthered by his purely self aggrandizing intentions and necessity for a constant stream of music. Even when Bobo foolishly attempts to stab him in his sleep and leaves holes in his shirt where the stabs should be, Dan brushes it off as moth damage as he is unconcerned about who may be after them. This fluffy haired, hippy has a knack for killing and detective work though so, despite his flaws he’s still very badass. I mean, I already have so many questions about him: How he became so damn unharmable, why he doesn’t remember his past, and why he’s so creepy but, somehow still extremely charming?

Dan is the protagonist any Lapham fan will happily devour over and over. Everything about his character seems to be a built up version formed from others in his past series’. Like all of the best qualities of them into one magnificent, exciting character that allows Lapham to flex his obscure topics freely while keeping it grounded with a thick sense of humour throughout. Along side this, when you throw in David’s ability to choose only the best of when it comes to artists, his choice for this series being Rafael, and Digikore‘s consistently enhancing colours, Dan the Unharmable is quickly shooting it’s way up on my top new series this year!

Issue 2 gave the readers everything they wanted in this series and exceeded all expectations, even those that may have been missed in the first instalment. This issue gets 5 deflected stab-wounds out of 5. If you have ever enjoyed Lapham before pick this up, you shouldn’t live your life without.