Monster High – Nicholas Diak's Homepage

The Story So Far

Nell is a twenty-two-year-old student enrolled at Deus Mortem, a university for necromancy, who has been having a hard time staying awake in class. She has been overcome with sexual urges, which can barely be satiated by her own hand.

Cover shows Nell, wearing black and purple stripped stockings, and 2 giant sailor moon hair funs sitting on a purple bed or couch. It looks blood soaked. There are green flowing tentacles around her legs. She is wearing sneakers. Behind her is a window with the moon beaming through. On the couch/bed are thin vials of different colors. Nell is holding a vial and vapor is emitting from it. She is beckoning with her finger as if saying "Come closer". — Death Nell #3 Aleriia V Cover.

Nell learns that she is half succubus and that she needs to feed on sexual energy. With the assistance of her best friend April, they break into Ms. Flowers’ (the school’s nurse) office in the hopes of summing an imp that can be at Nell’s side to keep her focused. Instead, they summon a s’imp, a red, sexually charged imp named Hans that bonds immediately to Nell much to her chagrin.

Later during the night, a mysterious cloaked figure slips an envelope under April’s dorm door which contains a picture of Nell’s parents: a human father and a succubus mother.

Issue 03 Plot

After the next classroom session with Professor Reinhart, which was about the differences between krakens and leviathans, April gives to Nell the picture of her parents that was slipped under her door the night before. Hans the s’imp slaps the picture from Nell’s hands, claiming that it is a trap. And it is. When the picture hits the floor a horned purple wolf with a skeleton head manifests and begins chasing Nell, saying “om nom nom!” as it wants to eat her.

April uses her troll powers to stun the beast while Nell uses her succubus singing voice to charm it. Ms. Flowers arrives on scene and casts a spell that melts the wolf into a pile of pink cosmos.

Flowers agrees with the trio that someone is after Nell and that they need extra help. She sends Nell and company to the school’s crypt to begin learning from Frederick, the school’s necromancy instructor.

Nell is being fondeled by 4 skeletons and lots of ghosts who are wide-eyed and drooling. She has her eyes closed and is singing "oooooooooo". All the undead are enthralled with her. — Nell attempts to control the summoned skeletons and ghosts.

Arriving at the crypt, the three are surprised to find that it is a gym full of skeletons. April is immediately smitten with Frederick who is an extremely fit and swole Frankenstien-esque man. To get them started on learning the ways of necBROmancy, Frederick gives Nell, April, and Hans a protein shake that has been enhanced with necromancer ashes. Nell gives her succubus siren song another try and summons a mass of skeletons that begin to fondle her. She loses control of the skeletons, but April smacks her on her butt to snap her back into focus. The skeletons reform and combine into a giant skeleton golem, a skullem!

Commentary

Issue three of Death Nell has a lot going for it: deepening the mystery surrounding Nell, successfully introducing another new character (Frederick), maintaining 80s style sexploitation comedy and doing something “different” with the sex scenes in this issue when compared to issues one and two (throttling it back and placing it on April instead of Nell).

Frederick is laying on his back, performing lifts. He has one blue eye and one purple eye. He is saying "Grrr! The first step to being a good necromancer is to be a part of the swoley trinity. ou need to be swole of mind, body, and spirit. You got that?" — Frederick, the necBROmancer.

This issue introduces the new character of Frederick, a body builder character that, in a Monster High fashion, takes after Frankenstein. His first appearance make him look like a “gym bro”, but he turns out to be anything but. He has been the only adult character in the Deus Mortem University so far who has not either sexually advanced on the main characters, or been antagonistic toward them. Nurse Flowers has made advances to Nell, groundskeeper Edgar has audibly made comments toward Nell, Professor Reinhart has not done any advances toward Nell, but s’imp Hans proclaims something is off about him (this could be jealousy, though Hans has been correct about his other observations such as the cursed picture). Fredrick, instead, opens up to Nell, April, and Hans immediately, welcomes them to the gym, and gets right to work training them. No punishments or demands like from Reinhart, but right into being supportive. He is a good teacher and a positive character.

Nell is naked and eating a slice of pepperoni pizza. She says "nom nom". And she is eating the pizza, with her eyes closed, she has her left hand on Reinhard as he is performing Cunnilingus on Nell and also saying "nom nom". Hearts float around the duo. — Fantasy sequence from issue 1 – Nell eats Pizza.

A recreation of the scene in Lady and the Tramp - April on the left and Frederick on the right. The are eating opposite ends of the same spaghetti noodle. A place of spaghetti sits between the two. Both are naked and staring into each others eyes. — Fantasy sequence from issue 3 – April eats spaghetti.

The appearance of Frederick takes the spotlight away from Nell’s sexual appetite and places it on April. There is only one sex scene (fantasy or otherwise) in Death Nell #3, and it does not involve Nell, but April. In fact, one of the series’ best jokes is in this issue. It is a meta joke from Nell directed to April when April begins to fantasize about Reinhard: “You better not be eating pizza in there, that’s my thing.” April has collage sexual fantasies just like her best friend Nell, but instead of pizza she goes the other Italian food route and eats spaghetti a’la Lady and the Tramp (1955). There are roughly three nested jokes in one sequence. It is great!

April slaps Nell's butt. She has furrowed eyes. — SLAP DEM CHEEKS!

The comedy in Death Nell #3 continues with its so-bad-they’re-great Monster High-esque puns: necBROmancer, Skullem, etc. Professor Reinhard saying “get kraken” while giving a lecture on leviathans and krakens is the greatest pun ever. Other great instances of comedy in the issue includes a panel of April slapping Nell on her butt to snap her out of a trance, and it turns the phrase “slap dem cheeks!” into an onomatopoeia.

Ms. Flowers is bent over, rummaging through a cabinet. She is wearing a red dress that is hiked up, showing there white panties that have hearts. She is wearing thigh high stockings that have flowers on them. There are books and potions above her and candles lit with purple flames nearby. She is saying "I'll send a bat with a message to expect the three of you. Also, he may come off as arrogant, but...." (she is talking about Frederick). — Panty and stockings (without garter belt) flashes from, Ms. Flowers.

While the sex is throttled back, there is still 80s style sexploitation gags in Death Nell #3. When Ms. Flowers bends over in her office, her knickers and stockings become “accidentally” exposed, something akin to Linda Blair in Zapped Again!(1990) or Linnea Quigley in Night of the Demons (1988). All in all, this has been the funniest issue of Death Nell so far.

Covers and Swag Impressions

The third issue of Death Nell was successfully Kickstarted back in October of 2023, with physical fulfillment in January 2024. Those that contributed to the campaign received some nifty art-centric swag and trading cards to go with their chosen cover(s).

Death Nell #3 came in nine different covers, with nude and non-nude options available. The standard cover was done by Aleriia V that goes for a sinister approach to an otherwise comedic series. The Aleriia V cover shows Nell sitting on a blood-soaked couch or bed, tentacles wrapping around her legs, holding potion vials and beckoning the viewer to come forth with her finger. It looks like a gothic crackhead crime scene. Not Alerria V’s best cover, especially considering they did the best cover of Vanya #7 (see here).

The sexiest cover of issue three goes to Xong Bros (who focus on Nell’s masturbatory dilemma) while the whimsy-est goes to Mike Debalfo and Tarella Pablo’s cover which captures a more innocent and unassuming side of Nell.

Nell is topless on a purple beach down that has a skull pattern. She is on a dark beach with sinister clouds in the distance. She is cleaning against a tiki statue. Behind her are tiki torches. At her hands is a hollowed pineapple with a cocktail in it, garnished with an umbrella. A green skeleton magic vapor comes from the cocktail. — Personal copy of Death Nell #3, nude version done by Marissa Pope and Hedwin Zaldivar.

The best cover, hands down, goes to Marissa Pope and Hedwin Zaldivar’s tiki cover. Death Nell has absolutely no exotica/tiki/mid-century elements present, but the artistic duo voodoo-tiki-ify Nell and it pull it off.* Co-artist Zaldivar also did the best cover for Vanya #9 (see here).

Two art prints, side by side. The left one shows Nell and June, but in swapped costumes. June, the purple haired sex bot from Hyperguest, is wearing all purple and her hand is reaching from Nell's breast. Nell is dressed in June's outfit, with is black latex with latex garters that connect to latex boots. The smaller art print shows a naked Nell, sitting on the floor, rubbing the top of her head as a dizzy swirl appears. There is a headless skeleton in a cape holding her. She is wearing purple and black stripped stockings that have holes torn in them. — Art print of Nell and June done by Bruno Sousa next to an art print of the Zheanhmeart cover.

For Kickstarter swag, the Death Nell #3 campaign came with two art prints. One is a 6 x 9 crossover piece that has Nell paired up with June, the protagonist from Bad Bug’s erotic cyberpunk series Hypergeist. Nell is wearing June’s attire and June wearing Nell’s. This piece is done by Bruno Sousa who also did the crossover print of Nell and Bobby Jo that was a part of the Death Nell #2 campaign.

The second art print is a smaller 5×7 glossy print of the Zheanhmeart cover for Death Nell #3.

four black and white trading cards showing skeletons engaging in different sexual positions, like reverse cowgirl, missionary, prone bone. The target card shows nell holding an urn of ashes on her head. Her eyes are glowing yellow. She is wearing a purple top that has poofy shoulders. — Necro Sutra trading cards and a Wheel of Fortune Tarot Card.

Finally, as with many Bad Bug campaigns, the Death Nell #3 Kickstarter had a handful of different trading/collectable cards.

First, there is a set of “Necro Sutra” trading cards done by Cari Salviejo (who has worked on other Bad Bug properties such as the aforementioned Hypergeist). These cards show skeletons engaging in a variety of sexual acts and are similar in theme to the sexy skeleton cards that were included with Death Nell #2.

Lastly there is the Tarot Card. Bad Bug has had a great run of making Rider–Waite Tarot Cards sporting their characters. This card is for the Wheel of Fortune and shows an extremely stylized Nell holding an urn of ashes on her head. She has possessed eyes and glowing arms in her palms, perhaps a nod to the Pale Man from Pan’s Labyrinth (2006). The artist is not credited, but it looks akin to the work of Zach Raw.

All in all, a zesty round up of great swag that backers got with their comic.

Conclusion

Death Nell #3 is fantastic. Frederick is a great addition to the series and he treats the main trio respectfully (hoping that issue four or five does not pull a Scooby Doo and turns him into a bad guy). The comedy in this issue is top notch with many humorous panels and puns. Issue three continues to dive deeper into the mystery around Nell (who she is and why others want her dead), while also exploring other characters more closely (such as April’s desires).

*Note: I am 100% bias toward this cover as I am really into tiki culture.

For more information on Death Nell and the comic’s creative team, check out the links below:

Also, consider checking out the reviews I’ve done of other titles published by Bad Bug:

Death Nell Reviews

Vanya Reviews

The Story So Far

Nell is a twenty-two year old student enrolled at Deus Mortem, a university for necromancy, who has been having a hard time staying awake in class. She has been overcome with sexual urges, which can barely be satiated by her own hand. Her best friend, a half troll named April, urges Nell to visit the school’s nurse, Madame Flowers who uncovers the root cause of the situation: Nell is a half-succubus who needs to feed on sexual energy. The solution: Nell needs to have a few romantic rendezvous. At the urging of April, the duo make their way to happening party where maybe Nell can find a paramour.

Cover depicts Nell, surrounded by other characters of the comic, with hearts in their eyes, all looking at her in adoration. There's multiple spotlights of different colors shining on her as she sparkles. — Standard cover of Death Nell #2 by Cammry Lapka. Image from the Bad Bug website.

Issue 02 Plot

Nell and April arrive at the party and it is boogying down: werewolves dancing with skeletons, DJ UND3ADD spinning some oontz oontz oontzes, and the arrival of a mysterious cloaked stranger whose only visible trait is the gleam of their glasses. Nell is immediately smitten and falls into a drooling stuper of sexual fantasies. To calm down her nerves, Nell tries to picture all the partygoers naked, but invertedly casts a succubus spell that makes herself naked, garnering the attention of everyone. However, the DJ rolls with it, and everyone casts away their clothes and continues to dance, but the mysterious cloaked person disappears into the crowd.

Panel from Death Nell issue 2. Close up of Nell's face. Her hair is billowing backwards as she is casting a spell. She has winged eye lashes, and two different eyes: a normal green human eye, and a slit cat like eye that is orange. Her mouth is open showing her fangs and she has black lipstick on. She yells "Now, I can see all of you in your underwear!" — Nell casts a spell.

Since April cannot be around Nell 24/7 to keep her in check, she suggests the idea of summoning an imp to accompany Nell. The duo sneak into the office of Madame Flowers and find a spell book, but it all goes awry: April misreads the spell and summons a simp instead, and the trio are caught by Flowers and Professor Reinhart.

Nell is now bound to the simp until he feels his duties are fulfilled, which he takes to heart and bombards Nell with attention and adoration. Meanwhile April intercepts a mysterious letter left at their dorm door.

Commentary

Picking up right were issue one left off, Death Nell issue two continues the humorous and sexy hijinks of the titular character as she works to control her innate succubus powers so she can succeed in her necromancy classes.

Nell is not a parody of the “big-tiddy-goth-girlfriend” archetype per se, but she is definitely an alternative take on it. Much of the comedy in Death Nell is visual, coming from the expressions, faces, and body language of Nell which borrows heavily from anime (with Nell’s two buns, her hair is reminiscent of Sailor Moon’s odango style) but also of classic mime. Nell drools when her imagination takes over and her mind turns to sexual fantasies. She furrows her brows, clenches her teeth, dilates or contracts her pupils, has hearts/sparkles/stars float about her, and so on. It is all exaggerated, but 1) gets the point across of what Nell is feeling (which varies panel to panel as she struggles with her Succubus nature) and 2) is humorous at how cartoonish it is depicted.

Panel from the comic, done in three clouds. The first cloud is Nell, naked, with her hands to her face, drooling, and saying "Take me now! I need you to make me Roar!". The other two clouds show Nell getting atop a dragon and embracing the dragon's rider, which is her professor. — A drooling Nell has a fantasy.

With all of this in mind, Nell, (and other characters in Death Nell), is extremely emote-able, and this is a credit to artist Cammry Lapka. The colours of Death Nell are vibrant, with a thick line art style. Though the characters are cartoony, Lapka also makes them sexy and attractive while also leaning into body positivity. Nell is curvy and she exudes a point on the scale of cuteness to sexiness as she sees fit. Sometimes she is in bondage/gothic-ish/fetish attire, other times she is in playful yellow pajama shirt and shorts that have skulls and bats on them, and other times she looks like a sexualized student from Monster High. This casual flip-flopping goes with the playing of expectations of the big-tiddy-goth-girlfriend archype.

The excess sexiness of Nell in a university setting does draw some issues that Death Nell is so far bypassing in order to focus on its 80s/late 90s teen sexy comedy attitude. Simply put, Nell is a vulnerable character with a big, personal issue. Stated in issue one, Nell really wants one thing: to be successful in school. Her burgeoning succubus nature is challenging that, and Nell does need support to help her, and simply put she is not getting it. As attractive Madame Flowers is, and (cloven hooves aside) a dream woman for readers, she is not a good support person, despite being in a position of power to be so. Her solution to Nell’s situation (from issue one) is to tell Nell to get laid. In issue two, in an exchange with April, it is brought up to ask Flowers again for help, but Nell quickly retracts the comment, makes a face, and says “Something tells me she’d like me to beg for her…”. Being afraid to approach an adult that is supposed to be there to help students because one is afraid that something sexual will come of it? That is neither a good nor safe sign at all. Combine that with the groundskeeper/gravedigger from issue one, asleep on a couch and mumbling his dream about Nell bending over while she digs a grave. Initially funny, but second glance, that is pretty creepy.

And that becomes the juggling issue for Death Nell: how does one create a sex comedy that is set in a school where the students are not taken advantage of? One answer is to make sure the protagonists are given their own control and agency, but that is the big “what is at stake” in Death Nell: Nell does not have control and is trying to get it, and the structures that should be in place to help her do not seem to be working. The other answer is to just go with it and take the sex and comedy at the level being asked without a deeper reading. Are folks doing deep reads into “help me big stepbrother, I appear to be stuck in the washing machine, again”? Maybe? Maybe not?

Covers and Swag Impressions

Issue two of Death Nell was Kickstarted in February 2023 and fulfilled August through October. The comic has eleven artists doing different covers, both in nice and naughty variants. The Dhaxina Dee alternative cover comes in additional metal editions for its nice/naughty variants while the Zheanhmeart cover comes with a holo cover format for its nice/naughty variants. This brings the total number of possible covers of Death Nell #2 to twenty six.

Cover shows Nell and April, both nude, atop a bed having a pillow fight with feathers flying about. — Personal copy of the Joel Souza nude variant cover.

Of all these combinations, the standout cover goes to Joel Souza’s cover which depicts Nell and April having a pillow fight. Souza’s style is an excellent take on the cartoonish/pinup style that Lapka brings to the comic. It is silly, funny, but also sexy. It vibes perfectly with what Death Nell is about, but it also adds more fun to Nell and April’s friendship (though April’s orcish features are non-existent on this depiction of her).

As with many Kickstarters, Death Nell #2’s campaign had stretch goals it met resulting in some cool swag.

Bobby Jo attempts to "sneak up" on Nell who has her arms crossed. — Bobby Jo x Death Nell crossover art print.

Firstly, there is an art print by Bruno Sousa that depicts Nell from Death Nell and Bobby Jo, the titular character from another Bad Bug series, Bobby Jo. The characters take the idea of a crossover literally as their clothing is swapped: Nell is wearing daisy dukes and a short t-shirt that is befitting to Bobby Jo while Bobby Jo is wearing purple striped stockings and matching colour body suit, that pairs with Nell. It is a fun piece that also demonstrates the dynamicness of all the different Bag Bug series out there.

Five black and white cards depicting skeletons engaging in various sexual activities: "The Monster Mash", "The Gravedigger", "Bone to be Wild", "Rock the Casket", and "The Rib Job". Next to those is a Death Nell Tarot Card for The Fool. — Skeleton Karma Sutra cards and a Death Nell Tarot Card.

Next there are trading cards and a tarot card. The trading cards tie into the sex positiveness vibes that Death Nell shoots for, portraying skeletons in different sexual poses with punny titles, such as cowgirl style atop a casket is called “Rock the Casket” and a vertical 69 is called “The Rib Job”.

As stated in other reviews of Bad Bug comics, the publisher including Tarot Cards with their comics is brilliant. It is a unique take on the collector cards that (along with bookmarks, stickers, and magnets) are featured heavily in Kickstarter stretch goals. The Tarot Card for Death Nell #2 is of The Fool and shows Nell about to walk off a cliff while she is distracted. By her side is a zombie dog who also looks distracted. The Death Nell Fool Tarot Card is a perfect parody of the Rider-Waite version of the card, which too shows a distracted person with a puppy at their side about to walk off a cliff. The Death Nell version is an inversion of it all: Rider-Waite is during the day, Death Nell at night. Rider-Waite has an alive white dog, Death Nell an undead one. Rider-Waite has the person holding a bag on a staff in one hand and a flower in the other, Death Nell has Nell holding her school backpack in one hand and her striped knickers in the other. It is brilliant!

Conclusion

With its quirky, vibrant art style and great emotive expressions, Death Nell continues to allure in issue two. Nell and April are extremely likable characters, get along fabulously, and it is fun to see them both interact and play off each other. Nell needs the support of April (and possibly her new simp companion) as she tries to navigate her identity crisis (coming to terms being part succubus and the associated sexual urges that come with it) and unfortunately not receiving the proper or serious support from the faculty of her school. Despite these roadblocks, Nell is determined and will certainly overcome her nature while solving the mystery hinted by the contents of the envelope left at her dorm room door.

For more information on Death Nell and the comic’s creative team, check out the links below:

Also, consider checking out the reviews I’ve done of other titles published by Bad Bug:

Death Nell Reviews

Vanya Reviews