Dio: Holy Diver - Comic Book (2021)

Dio: Holy Diver (2021)

Author: Steve Niles | Illustrator: Scott Hampton | Page Count:124

"We have forsaken nothing. There are Gods everywhere. There are Gods in the ground and in the water, in the very air. Life is a never-ending wheel."

Music related comics aren't new, but I don't recall them ever being as abundant as they seemed to be in 2021. At time of writing there's about a dozen books based on or inspired by bands and/or albums that have either recently been published or are currently up for pre-order (and occasional delay), including works on Freddie Mercury, Elvis, The Doors, The Grateful Dead, Blondie, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Cypress Hill, Chuck D, Alter Bridge, Mötley Crüe, and Anthrax. [1]

All of the publications mentioned above are from publisher Z2 Comics. Is it desperation or a bold move to reach a potential new audience? I don't know, but with the full benefit of the doubt I decided to choose one and see for myself. (I noticed afterwards that a comic of King Diamond's Abigail was planned, so 'choose one' became two because I'm a KD fan and it might actually translate well to the page).

Besides Bill Sienkiewicz's impressive cover art, which I'm guessing Ronnie James Dio might have approved of, what struck me most was the publisher's claim that the book would 'definitively' address '30 years of fan speculation' regarding what happened prior to the provocative event that's depicted on Holy Diver's iconic album art, which was painted by Randy Berrett.

The album was released in May 1983, so thirty years brings it to just 2013, not 2021. Surely it would've been wiser to say 'over three decades' of fan speculation?

But that's a minor error in comparison to the use of the word 'definitively' in the description. There's nothing definitive about the book, whatsoever. It's categorically another example of the thing that it claims to put an end to, which is subjective interpretation, artistic conjecture, etc. I don't feel that the participation of the 'Dio Estate' makes this one any different from any other.

But what of the actual content? It's a mixed bag. I've seen nothing but derision and mockery from other Dio music fans regarding Scott Hampton's art, but I would counter with the claim that the painted visuals are the best part; and more than that, I enjoyed the stylised nature of it, which at various times reminded me a little of Dean Ormston's early comic book work, a little of Arthur Ranson's, and even something of Winslow Homer's paintings (really!). I'm not suggesting that it's the equal of any of those, just that it brought such works to mind more than once.

I can see why many folks would feel the polar opposite: it's unconventional and daring, often with more than one painterly technique and/or style next to each other in the same panel - some of which occasionally seem like an afterthought. It could be little more than mere coincidence, but it reinforced the underlying theme of differences complementing and clashing with each other in the same story space. The dark smudginess of the watercolour style, for example — which seemed like the kind of unintentional happenstance that a hobbyist painter at home might encounter if they don't change the water in their wash jar often enough — highlighted the feeling that not everything in life is as perfectly clean and opaque as it may seem to onlookers.

There's a large number of panels with no text present, perhaps because the story is so thin, with minimal effort put into the potential layering that the situation could've allowed for. The text boxes and dialogue include some Dio song lyrics; it may have been done with the best of intentions, but they rarely fit and they make the reading experience feel even more thrown together than it already is. It takes less than 42 minutes to listen to the Holy Diver album from start to finish - the story reads like it took about the same amount of time to write. Further to that, putting Holy Diver on one's hi-fi is 42 minutes well-spent, but the same can't be said for the text in the book with the same name, which even manages to make the climax seem weak.

[1] Although not posted until early in 2022, the review was written before the end of 2021.

- Bill Sienkiewicz's wraparound cover art in full. -