(Full disclosure: I received a free e-ARC for review through Edelweiss.)

When Barney feels unsupported by parents who claim to be accepting of his gender identity, he runs away from home, landing in Phoenix Park. Created by 'triple threat' Pauline Phoenix* as a celebration of her career in entertainment, Barney's friend Norma hooks him up with a job in her realm - the uber-creepy haunted house attraction Dead End. Turns out that the spooks and specters aren't entirely fabricated in Dead End: it's home to an honest-to-goodness elevator to the other twelve planes** - and a demon ambassador named Courtney to oversee it, to boot. Along with his magical talking dog named Pugsley, Barney, Norma, and their friends/co-workers get into all sorts of animated supernatural hijinx.

Each chapter in DEADENDIA features a different story line, with one larger thread tying all the stories together. The craziness kicks off when Temeluchus, the chief angel of torment, possesses Pugsley as part of his plot to take over the world. In capturing him, Norma also traps a small piece of Temeluchus in Pugsley, endowing the loyal pup with strong magic. Then an echo illegally hops the elevator to plane 7 and Barney has to figure out how to send him back before Kushiel, the angelic punisher finds it. (Turns out that Kushiel was actually looking for a time-traveling cowboy, in our first look at the Watcher character.) One domino fells another, until the gang's inevitable Final Showdown with the mysterious Watcher.

Having slept on the Netflix series (DEAD END: PARANORMAL PARK), I wasn't really sure what to expect of DEADENDIA. It seemed like a cute enough concept, and I'm a sucker for both LGBTQ representation and anthropomorphized, talking animals (dogs especially). Turns out that DEADENDIA, while a little silly, is also heartwarming, wholesome entertainment that's brimming with heart and humor. (Not to mention a cast of diverse characters that feels genuine and organic.) The ending had me in tears and yelling at my ipad (if you know, you know) - I really didn't anticipate the FEELINGS this comic would elicit.

I almost don't want to read volume two now that you-know-who is missing, but hey: no one's truly dead when there are ghosties flying about, and wizards who have the power to resurrect them. I can hope.

* Giving strong evil Dolly Parton vibes.

** Planes 1-6 are for the angels; 8-13 belong to the demons; and plane 7 is the "neutral" plane where humans (gross!) and other animals reside. ( )

Note: I received a digital review copy from the publisher through NetGalley. ( )

What immediately intrigued me was the art style, which reminded me so much of Gravity Falls I had to go look up Hamish Steele, only to find that my instincts were correct and he did, indeed, work on Gravity Falls.

While DeadEndia is not a carbon copy of the show, it shares much of the same DNA: cute, cartoony characters juxtaposed with creepy happenings. In DeadEndia, Barney and Norma work alongside a secret portal to hell, which causes Barney's dog Pugsley to become infected with a demon and, later, his magic. And this, of course, brings about the end of the world.

Cute, sweet, charming, and with great diversity, if not necessarily ground-breaking. ( )

teen/adult graphic adventure (demons, ghosts, talking dogs, apocalyptic battles, humor, with diverse cast/LGBTQ interest)
*reviewed from uncorrected e-galley*

I picked this up because of the art, and was pleasantly surprised by the high-quality storyline and interesting characters. If I could give this 6 stars I probably would. ( )

So much fun!! I loved all the characters and the ridiculousness and the queerness and diversity. I will say just about every chapter included a heavy-handed moral about acceptance that maybe didn't have to be there in that way because I feel like it was addressed more deftly in the plot overall, but the hilarity quickly resumed, so it didn't wallow too much. Would 100% read the next installment. ( )