REVIEW: “Kiss Me, Satan” #1

(Dark Horse Comics, 2013)

Review by Zakk Saam

SCRIPT BY: Victor Gischler
ARTWORK BY: Juan Ferreyra
COLOR ASSISTANCE BY: Eduardo Ferreyra

Kiss Me, Satan may not be the most subtle of name choices for a new comic book, but since when have comics really ever been about being subtle? Kiss Me, Satan is a new creator owned limited series from Dark Horse Comics written by Victor Gischler (Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth, X-Men) and with pencil work by Juan Ferreyra (Rex Mundi, Falling Skies: The Battle of Fitchburg).

The tale opens with a monologue from our presumed protagonist Barnabus Black, a gunman working for a cigar smoking Angel named Jules, as he describes just who runs the city of New Orleans. And that somebody happens to be Cassian Steele, leader of a mob-like pack of werewolves that deal in everything from protection to prostitution.

Barnabus is tasked with protecting a small group of witches who know some pretty sensitive information regarding Steele’s unborn child. While the wolves hunt the witches, Barnabus must also evade a team of demons sent from Hell as a “retrieval team.” We understand that the demons are here to retrieve Barnabus, but we don’t know why yet. Is he himself a former demon? Is he just a soul that escaped Hell? Did he lose a bet with the Devil and is now on the run? We don’t know, but I’m sure excited to find out.

Gischler does a good job of setting this story up and doing a lot of world building in a small amount of time and in a way that doesn’t scream, “I’m world building right now and just feeding you some information that may or may not at some point become relevant.” That’s not easy to do.

Ferreyra’s pencil work reminds me of Raphael Albuquerque’s work on American Vampire, especially when Ferreyra unleashes the werewolves upon us for the first time. Ferreyra is doing a good job at reversing the damage that preteen movies of the past few years have done to werewolves and vampires, and is making the frightening to be around again.

I’m very excited to see where Kiss Me, Satan will take us. As a huge fan of werewolves and their lore, it’s good to see them popping up at one of the “Big Four.”

Kiss Me, Satan #2 comes out October 23rd.
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Follow Zakk Saam on Twitter:  @ZakkSaam

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