Book Review: Devil – Issue 1

DEVIL #1 (COMIC)

Story & Art: Torajiro Kishi, Madhouse Studios
Letters: Sasquatch
Editors: Tim Ervin
Cover Artist: Torajiro Kishi
Publisher: Dark Horse
Publication Date: 2010
Format: Full Color – 28
Price: $3.50

A virus is raging across the planet, turning people into bloodsucking superhumans referred to as “Devils.” Most victims die within days, sometimes months, but there’s a new strain, a new class of Devil that threatens to overtake mankind with power and bloodthirst. This new class of Devils derive from an experiment to clone a virus victim, and it looks like science has created a true monster this time. Can Takimoto and the Devil Investigation Section of the Tokyo police force stop this societal scourge? We’ll just have to see.“

Artwork: 3.5 out of 5.0
While this isn’t the most stunning work you will ever see, it does a nice job of executing on each page. It is true to the manga style, and as a person who is not a big fan of that, it was still a fun looking issue. Most of the colors seemed a little flat at the beginning, but when I got more towards the end of the issue, the colors played a large part into the 3.5 score. The way the brightness of the villain was depicted was just amazing and to me was easily the highlight of the issue. Overall though I enjoyed the look and would read issue #2 based on the art alone.

Story: 4.0 out of 5.0
So the art is good, but what about the story? I enjoyed this one a lot. I thought it had a great pace to it. It wasn’t too wordy, but got across what it needed to. A solidly written first issue. In regards to the subject matter I really like it. I like the idea behind the vampires here, as it is really different from the typical approach.

Dying Breath: 4.0 out of 5.0
Good art followed up with a great story make this one an enjoyable issue. While I am not a big fan of the artistic style it didn’t bother me at all. I thought it easily added to a great overall piece. I am excited to see what comes next because I like the idea presented here. I just hope it can have a strong finish when all is said and done, because I think there are a lot of possibilities.

If you would like to buy Devil #3 you can pick it up at your local comic shop. For more on Dark Horse please check out http://www.darkhorse.com/

REVIEWED BY “DAN ROYER”
Want your graphic novel, book, comic or Horror art book reviewed?
submissions@horrornews.net