Houses of the Unholy
Ed Brubaker, writer; Sean Phillips, artist; Jacob Phillips, colorist
Image Comics, 2024

At first glance, this story shares elements with the creators’ previous supernatural series Fatale (Image Comics, 2012-2014). Fatale chronicled the life of Josephine, or “Jo,” an archetypal femme fatale who was seemingly immortal, having survived unaged from the 1930s to the present day. Through the decades, Jo struggled to understand and control her powers while being pursued by a violent cult. Here, a woman with a past linked to the Satanic Panic and an FBI agent from the cult crime beat are drawn together into a terrifying hunt for an insane killer, unknown and hiding in the underworld.

Natalie Burns is an adult now, but as a child, she was famous for being a member of the Satanic Six, six children who claimed Satanic ritual abuse. After a while, it became clear that their memories could not be accurate, but Natalie was still branded by the experience and seen as a liar. While working as a private investigator she kidnapped a young woman from a cult and found herself in jail, where she received a surprise visit from an Agent West from the FBI. He informs her that three of her fellow Satanic Six members are dead, murdered under sometimes-mysterious circumstances (not including the one that was staged as a Satanic crucifixion).

Things start moving quickly after that. They found her friend Kim dead, then West was kidnapped by Satanic Six member Blake (who was thought to be dead). When Natalie reconnected with her brother Brandan he told her about a group of online conspiracy theorists who were obsessed with the Satanic Six case. It turns out that people obsessed with Satanism are just as dangerous as actual Satanists, and the story comes to an explosive conclusion. As usual the storytelling is compelling. There are a series of flashbacks (featuring a red color scheme, evoking Satanism as well as setting them visually apart from the main narrative) which are especially effective.