Damn Them All Vol. 1
Simon Spurrier, writer; Charlie Adlard, illustrator; Sofie Dodgson, colors
BOOM! Studios, 2023

As the story begins, we meet Ellie “Bloody El” Hawthorne who is introduced to magic by her uncle Alfie, an infamous magician and occult detective. Jump forward twelve years, and it’s Alfie’s funeral (with Ellie officiating) and a wake at a nearby pub. It is interrupted by a demon summoning, which does not seem to follow the usual rules, but Ellie is quick enough to save her client.

It turns out that the 72 devils of the Ars Goetia have been mysteriously freed from their infernal realm. All of the magic dabblers are using the situation to seize power, and it’s now up to Ellie to track down each of these demons and damn them back to Hell. The book gets a bit too invested in the demonology–there are brief prose descriptions of all of the demons that show up in the story–but Ellie’s mission remains central, and the freed devils create plenty of mayhem on behalf of their temporary masters.

Spurrier wrote a Hellblazer run as part of the Sandman Universe, and this series has a definite Hellblazer vibe. I can certainly see Uncle Alfie as a John Constantine analog, making this series a kind of alternate history. Charlie Adlard’s art recalls his work on The Walking Dead, but this is a horror story which is right down his alley. I am looking forward to seeing where the series goes next. Thanks to writer Steven Grant for recommending this on LinkedIn.

A Righteous Thirst For Vengeance Deluxe Edition
Rick Remender, writer; André Lima Araújo, artist; Chris O’Halloran, colors
Image Comics, 2023

The protagonist of this eleven-issue miniseries is a Chinese-Canadian man who is enigmatic at first. We follow him through a long day as he travels to a remote house. When he arrives, he finds the couple he was seeking, but they have already been viciously murdered, so he beats his retreat, cleaning up all traces of himself (but misses a bloody footprint outside the house). When he arrives home, he logs on to a dark website and accepts a murder-for-hire job, using the login of a known hitman. But after meeting another contract killer at the address, it quickly becomes clear that he is there to prevent the murder, not participate in it. That decision turns him into a target. Not just any target: he has accidentally messed with a very powerful man who never forgives and never forgets.

While trying to escape with the murder target and her son Xavier the group runs into serious difficulty, in the form of several armed men. Escaping by the skin of their teeth, the scene shifts to a camp in the woods, populated by other refugees from the powerful man. There we learn that our protagonist’s name is Sonny, and he has adopted Xavier as his own (Xavier’s mother was killed during the escape). He desperately wants to check on his mother, but is warned that may never be possible, as she is sure to be watched. Then one of the contract killers arrives, and Sonny and Xavier narrowly escape. Another intense burst of violence–and another ally lost–and the story shifts to Mexico. Of course, there is no hiding place. This time the role of law enforcement in protecting the man behind all the killing is made completely clear, but fortunately there is at least one good cop to get Xavier away. Ten years later we get the meaning of the book’s title. Revenge is a dish best served cold.

This is a story that takes its time, continuously shifting between scenes of tranquility and scenes of extreme violence. The chase scenes are especially powerful, because André Lima Araújo and Chris O’Halloran are given plenty of space to explore the action, including long stretches with little or no dialog. I can’t recall anything I have read recently with such rich visual story telling. Remender is known for being quite verbose, so cheers to him for trusting his artistic collaborators so completely. The Deluxe Edition closes with 60 pages of Extras: variant covers; character designs; pages of pencils, inks, and tones; cover roughs, inks, and color explorations; and page studies with scripts.