Codeflesh: The Definitive Edition

By Joe Casey

Book Overview

A cult hit is back, the way it was always meant to be seen, from co-creators Joe Casey(GODLAND) and Charlie Adlard (The Walking Dead). Cameron Daltrey is an L.A. bail bondsman. His specialty is criminals of the superhuman persuasion, the type who rarely make their court dates. Thus, Cameron leads an interesting double life: Bail bondsman by day, masked bounty hunter by night. Packed with extra features, this full-color collection also includes an all-new Codeflesh story by Casey and Adlard -- the first original story in seven years

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1607060779
• ISBN13: 9781607060772
• Release Date: June 2009
• Publisher: Image Comics
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 7.4" x 11.0"
• Age Range: 16 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 11 and higher

Customer Reviews

Great post-modern concept

Ever since Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns everybody has been trying to deconstruct superheroes, dissecting them to their core elements to see what makes them tick, and putting these elements into a modern real world perspective. It happens so often that it's getting pretty tired. It's rare that a modern deconstruction is interesting or has anything good to say. The few examples of good recent deconstructions are Alan Moore's America's Best Comics line, and Codeflesh by Joe Casey and Charlie Adlard. Instead of a bright spandex costume we have, like the golden age Sandman, a guy in regular clothes and a strange mask. Instead of foiling the machinations of supervillains, he is a bounty hunter going after bad guys with super powers who have already been arrested and have skipped out on bail. Instead of having a noble purpose he quite clearly is doing it for the rush of beating up guys more powerful than he is. His girlfriend gets tired of wondering why he disappears without explanation or is always late with some lame excuse and dumps him. Oh, you know how some bad guys "augment" themselves (turn themselves into cyborgs or get bonded to magical suits they can never take off, etc) and you can't help wondering about practical things like how do they go to the bathroom or have sex? Well, that's dealt with pretty directly in here too. And the artwork by Charlie Adlard is awesome. I've seen his work in Astronauts in Trouble and the Walking Dead and a lot of places in between, and Codeflesh is by far his best stuff. It's all black and white, no zipotones or grayscale, just hard inks. It's dynamic and intense but it reads beautifully. I do agree with previous reviewers that the story doesn't go anywhere. The end of this collection feels like a "to be continued." But that didn't bother me. I just closed the book wanting more. Like the introduction says: Why is it called codeflesh? No idea. Never got explained. Why the bar-code mask? No idea. Never got explained. But I had so much fun reading it, I didn't really care.