Death Sentence is a comic series from Monty Nero, Mike Dowling, and Martin Simmonds. Despite debuting over a decade ago, the series feels frighteningly familiar — it was oddly prophetic of the future. Now, the entire Death Sentence has been compiled into one big graphic novel from Titan Comics.
If you’re a long-time fan of Death Sentence, the all-new complete edition of the comic series is simply a must-buy. It’ll look glorious on your bookshelf. If you’re new to Death Sentence, prepare for it to be one of your new comic book obsessions.
A subversive superhero saga, Death Sentence sets the scene in a near-future London, where a sexually transmitted virus (known as G+) infects people with super powers… but there’s one big caveat. The virus kills them in six months. Do those infected lay low and count their days, or go out in style?
With the release of the new, definitive edition from Titan Comics, we recently caught up with Monty Nero. Check out our discussion below:
COMICS BULLETIN: Firstly, congratulations on the new incredible hardback edition of Death Sentence from Titan, compiling the entire series! How does it feel to look back on the journey, one that’s endured for so long?
MONTY NERO: It feels great, thanks. A lot of hard work culminating in a genuinely beautiful 470-page hardback. I’ve enjoyed putting it on my shelf between Watchmen Noir and my Toppi volumes. It’s cool seeing it in book shops, comic shops, and online too.
With the new edition, I can imagine a lot of readers will be picking up Death Sentence for the first time. How would you describe Death Sentence to someone who’s never read it before?
It’s a gripping thriller, laced with fear and mystery, that really makes you laugh. The tone is what makes it special. It’s a dirty, decadent, harrowing predicament that’s somehow also uplifts and amuses. Some brilliant storytelling from Mike Dowling and Martin Simmonds too. Mike draws a quarter of it, and Martin paints half. I do the rest. It’s exceptional stuff.
The main characters — Verity, Weasel, Monty, Roots, Jeb — each have distinct personalities and powers. Which character was the most fun to write? Which was the most challenging?
Weasel was the easiest. He was the first character designed. These kinds of decadent useless rockstars are funny, and tragic. There’s a bunch in every generation. Mike and I were surprised how moved we became by Weasel’s struggle for fulfilment and achievement, in the face of his own inadequacy. We can all relate to that on some level.
Verity was the hardest, just because she goes through so much. She’s the heart of the book, it’s moral compass. She’s the hero. All the main characters have a distinct voice and attitude; it was fun pitting them against each other and watching the sparks fly.
Your collaboration with Mike Dowling and is phenomenal throughout the series. How much fun was it collaborating with him?
Joyous. As soon as he sent back a page or two, I realised he could handle subtlety and nuance and do great character acting. So, a lot of the more emotional moments in the book rely on that, on image not word. We were able to do a lot of really sophisticated visual storytelling, because Mike and Martin are both so gifted.
Death Sentence was written before the COVID-19 pandemic — yet it eerily anticipates a world grappling with a deadly virus. It also deals with political opportunism, media manipulation, and so on. Did you ever imagine that the world would catch up to your fiction in such a disturbing way?
No. It was all well researched, but I thought I was writing a wild, satirical exaggeration – a black warning. What happened in the real world was much worse: I had my faith in humanity undermined; millions died needlessly; life as we’d all known it changed irrevocably. The fact I’d already scripted similar scenes was, as you can imagine, utterly irrelevant to the horrors we all faced. It was genuinely and deeply upsetting. It only served to highlight the importance of writers and satire in general, and my own titanic irrelevance as a human being.
I’ve always thought Death Sentence would make a wonderful TV series. Have there been any talks with studios or streamers over the years? Can you tease anything — or should I continue pestering streamers until they call you?
Yes, there’s always something rumbling on. A TV show was the latest proposal. Mike and I just make our comics, we don’t get too hung up on the lottery of which shows get put into production. It’ll be fun if it happens – and lobbying never hurts!
Finally, I wanted to ask about your latest graphic novel series, Chrome Roses. I haven’t read it yet, but it looks fantastic. What inspired you to create this series? How would you entice our readers to check it out?
Chrome Roses was borne out of a terrible car crash I was in. I started drawing intricate cyberpunk cities as a form of catharsis. I had loads of cyberpunk stories & scripts, so it was a matter of designing characters to match them. I wanted proper cyberpunk, with shadowy noir detectives, neon glowing through vapour, and a lot of punk attitude. A good cyberpunk story sticks to its own claustrophobic urban environment – The Tract in this case.
Chrome Roses is about an outcast detective and punk vigilante teaming-up to solve some terrifying zero-g murders. The key was finding a way to hit all the cyberpunk buttons, Gibson, Stephenson, Ridley Scott, but make it look and feel original too, which Is why it’s all hand drawn in airbrush and inks. There’s also a Hellboy and Akira influence. It’s had some good feedback so far from readers and a few comic creators too.
Some reactions of Chrome Roses from across the industry include:
Martin Simmonds – Artist (Image, Marvel, DC) “‘With beautiful art and a killer concept, Chrome Roses is a cyber punk masterpiece.”
Nicola Scott – Artist (Image, DC) “Look at how beautiful this book is!”
Rob Williams – Writer (Marvel, DC, Image, 2000ad) “Fun stuff. In Chrome Roses Monty Nero creates a relatable cyberpunk detective world that feels two seconds removed from the strains and stresses of our 2025 lives. And it also has talking cats!”
Patrick Goddard – Artist (Marvel & 2000AD) “Monty is really doing some stellar work here. Very much in the 2000AD way!”
You can find Death Sentence: The Complete Collection on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books A Million, and Forbidden Planet for UK readers.
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