(Dark Horse Comics, 2013)
Review by Zakk Saam
Written by Victor Gischler
Artwork by Juan Ferreyra
Kiss Me, Satan returns this month with the Eye of Fates, a mysterious item that allows its holder to see the “raw truth of the world.” In its third issue, Kiss Me, Satan is an improvement over last month’s issue. We open up exactly where we left off last month, fighting against a cowboy necromancer, until mother Verona is mortally wounded.
This is where we get into the meat and potatoes of this mini-series. Written by Victor Gischler (X-Men, Deadpool: Merc With a Mouth), Gischler’s story is rooted deep within supernatural mythologies. Barnabus Black leads a group of young witches as they try to evade hit men hired by the New Orleans Werewolf Mafia. Gischler also sets up what is to come next issue, turning someone close to the group against them.
The issue is nearly non-stop action from beginning to end, the only time we have a beat to rest is when the main antagonist, Cassian Steele engages in a dialogue with an infamous bounty hunter looking for the Eye of Fates. There is a particularly nasty set of pages that involve taking a knife to the faces of multiple characters.
Barnabus Black is an interesting character. We’re over halfway through this story and we’re still not entirely sure of his intentions, or why he owes a debt to Heaven above. He’s obviously formerly connected to Hell, but there is still so much we don’t know about him. What did he do prior to the series that made him such a badass?
Juan Ferreyra’s (Rex Mundi, Falling Skies: The Battle of Fitchburg) art is perfect for this story. His exaggerated line work is excellent for the supernatural aspect of this story. Best of all, this artwork is frightening and legitimately scary. With assistance from Eduardo Ferreyra, the colors really bring this artwork to life. There is a three to four page segment in which everything is colored with green fire and it just looks so phenomenal on the page.
Overall, this is one of my favorite series out there and one of the best things I’ve seen come out of Dark Horse Comics. My only complaint is there is a page where a character seems to take a complete one hundred and eighty degree flip regarding her stance on another character. It’s a short amount of time to completely change your opinion of someone.
Kiss Me, Satan #4 is scheduled to be released December 18th, 2013.
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