Die Series by Kieron Gillen, Stephanie Hans, Clayton Cowles

The Wicked + The Divine writer Kieron Gillen teams up with artist supernova Stephanie Hans (WicDiv, Journey Into Mystery) for her first ongoing comic. Die is a pitch-black fantasy where a group of forty-something adults have to deal with the returning, unearthly horror they only just survived as teenage role-players. If Kieron's in a rush, he describes it as "Goth Jumanji", but that's only the tip of this obsidian iceberg.Collects issues #1-5 of Die.

THE WICKED + THE DIVINE writer KIERON GILLEN teams up with artist supernova STEPHANIE HANS (THE WICKED + THE DIVINE 1831, Journey Into Mystery) for her first ongoing comic! DIE is a pitch-black fantasy where a group of forty-something adults have to deal with the returning unearthly horror they barely survived as teenage role-players. If Kieron’s in a rush, he describes it as “Goth Jumanji.” That only captures a sliver of what you’ll find in oversized debut issue—where fantasy gets all too real.

No one can escape DIE until everyone agrees to go home. Or rather, no one can escape DIE until everyone who is alive agrees to go home. The second arc of the commercial and critical hit of bleakly romantic fantasy fiction starts to reveal the secrets of the world, and our heroes' pasts. Yes, they can't escape DIE. They also can't escape themselves.Collects issues #6-10 of DIE

"FANTASY HEARTBREAKER," Part TwoRemember last time, when we said "Goth Jumanji?" As the bleak, austere fantasy-horror ramps up, we start underlining the word "Goth" in black marker until we cut a hole through the page.

In the world of DIE, the players are now real players. Countries are their pieces and the board threatens to run red with blood. Who is the Queen and who are pawns? Who's playing to win? Who's forgotten what they're playing for? And what will they do when they're reminded of the real stakes? The critically acclaimed dark fantasy smash hit goes epic in its third volume.Collects issues #11-15 of DIE

“FANTASY HEARTBREAKER,” Part Three One of the saddest comics in Kieron’s career. One of Stephanie’s prettiest. Clayton’s lettering, of course, remains impeccable.

We've had dragons. The award-winning bleak deconstruction couldn't end without turning its unblinking eye upon a dungeon. There's no escape. There's only down.Collects issues #16-20 of DIE.

“FANTASY HEARTBREAKER,” Part Four Our heroes reach the civilization of Glass Town and do what heroes have always done upon reaching civilization. As in, go to the pub. As it’s DIE, you can guess people don’t exactly get happy drunk.

“FANTASY HEARTBREAKER,” Conclusion It was never going to be okay. Wait, wrong book.

“SPLIT THE PARTY,” Part One Forget escaping Die—half of our heroes can’t even escape the remains of shattered Glass Town. Is there any way out? Of course there is. It’s just whether or not you can pay the price. Jump aboard the commercial smash series here!

“SPLIT THE PARTY,” Part Two The rest of our heroes have to march the survivors of Glass Town across the featureless Expanse, led by contrite Isabelle and never-contrite-in-his-whole-life Chuck. But is there more than meets the eye here? Like a secret door? Or a soul?

“SPLIT THE PARTY,” Part Three The endless social whirl of the popular unpopular kids in Angria threatens to ensnare the party. Mistakes have grown in their absence. Have our heroes?

“SPLIT THE PARTY,” Part Four Forget escaping DIE. You can’t do that without escaping the prison, with your worst enemy and the first woman who ever gazed upon this plane with human eyes.

“SPLIT THE PARTY,” Conclusion Forget escaping DIE.

“THE GREAT GAME,” Part TwoDesigner Sid Meier described games as a series of interesting decisions. “May you live in interesting times” is a curse. Both things are true, and both are true here.

“THE GREAT GAME,” Part Three“War isn’t a game” seems obvious. Let one of DIE’s most aggressive masters explain:i) why that isn’t trueii) that war being a game only makes it worse.Can our heroes save the world? Can they save anything?

"THE GREAT GAME," Part Four"Hey, Stephanie, shall we do DIE’s take on the big battles in Return of the King?" "Sure thing, Kieron. Can you add some big emotional messy beats to the visual splendor?" "Sure thing!"

"THE GREAT GAME,” Part FiveThe Great Game ends. The board is flipped. The pieces go to pieces. Can anyone play on?

"BLEED," Part OneTo go into the dark, you have to get to the dark. They never put a dungeon anywhere accessible, do they? Past sins haunt our party, and future sins permeate the landscape. DIE’s closing arc begins as we began: with regrets and screaming.

"BLEED," Part TwoHell is other people, said Sartre. Hell disagrees. Hell has things to share.

"Bleed," Part ThreeOnce upon a time, there was a golden child. He’s been gone a long time now. What happened to him? Let’s find out.

"BLEED," Part FourThe final encounter approaches. Everything to play for, even if everyone’s already lost.

"Bleed," Part FiveYou can never go home, said Sol, way back in issue two. Let’s see if he was right.