DIE: LOADED #9: Get Lost

How often do people talk about losing themselves in a story? In the case of DIE: LOADED, a group of TTRPG players have quite literally lost themselves in a fantasy world and there’s no easy way out. This is, of course, part of the magic of role-playing games. Where better to lose yourself by being someone else—and perhaps find yourself at the same time? Heck, the penultimate issue of DIE (the previous series) saw protagonist Ash reborn Gandalf-style after reckoning with a Balrog-esque version of themself, representing their messy feelings about gender. DIE: LOADED #9 sees Ash’s wife Sophie and the rest of her party on a Treasure Island-inspired high-stakes adventure on the High Sea. Waiting in the ocean’s depths lie not only sea monsters and literary references, but the twinned terrors of not knowing who you are and of losing who you are. 

The newest leg of the party’s journey begins on a ship crewed by “unformed adventurers,” masked and ghost-like un-people using adventure as a means of finding who they are. From the moment these glowing blue figures with their fully visible nervous systems appear, Stéphanie Hans’ character design skills are on full display, as is her mastery of body horror. At the opposite end of the spectrum from the “unformed adventurers” lie most of the party. Three party members—Margaret, Molly, and Violet—have been turned into cannibalistic undead Fallen and are losing themselves slowly to the desire to eat their travelling companions. Meanwhile, party member Tommy is slowly losing his sense of self to the real-world horror of dementia. And as the party finally unravels the mystery of Isabel, one of DIE’s original players who seemingly returned home yet seems equally trapped in Die, matters of identity grow more nauseating and heartbreaking than ever. Throughout, Stephanie Hans’ artwork is sickeningly slick with gore and seawater alike. Kieron Gillen’s script, meanwhile, is light on humor, making DIE: LOADED #9 a harrowing read from start to finish.