Mitch Shelley can't die. That is to say, he can't stay dead.
He always wakes up a short time after each death, alive and possessing a
different super power than last time he died and resurrected. Each power comes
with a particular drive to be in a particular place at a particular time, to
aid a particular person. Mitch's memory only stretches back a few years, and in
these first two arcs, he struggles to discover the source of his power.
The nature of this story -- life and death, resurrection --
does raise religious issues, and I give Abnett and Lanning credit for spending
the first four issues dealing with this. Shelley is tracked down by both Heaven
and Hell, or at least really hot lady angel beings representing Heaven and
Hell. The Angel Suriel is coordinating the efforts to deliver his overdue soul to Heaven. There
is no resolution to this part of the story, which I hope gets resolved in the
next batch of issues -- especially since this book was canceled after 13 issues
(including the special #0 issue). The cancellation was not a surprise, as
Diamond Distribution reported sales figure for issue #7 of just over 15,000
copies, more than a 60% drop from issue #1.
The angelic creatures disappear after Mitch doesn't actually
die at the end of their battle, and somehow gets himself transferred to Arkham
Asylum. His claims of an ability to die and return with a new power are
greeted, as one would expect, as the ravings of a madman. Arkham immediately
puts Shelley (who does not appear in any world database) under suicide watch, and
he finds himself for the first time unable to die -- he is protected too well
to die. But he manages to take advantage of a prison break to escape, to then
be heroic, and to escape. Issue 7 ends at a nice point, bringing to a
satisfactory conclusion that story arc.Source: public library.
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