I was really beginning to wonder about Dynamite’s Chaos! line. I’ve yet to enjoy a single issue of the relaunch and it really was bumming me out. Leave it to the one Chaos! character that I’m not familiar with to save the day. I have to admit that Lady Demon really does come across as the fill in for Lady Death, the one and only Chaos! character at a different home. How the hell that happened is beyond me, but maybe Avatar will do something with the character now that the rest of the crew are active… or not (comics!).
The book begins off innocently enough. In fact it has a great opening as our main character Violet wakes up from a nap by the creek. It’s just a normal day as she tells us a little about herself and her relationship with Billy, her father’s deputy. When she looks at Billy though she discovers a bullet hole in his head and then for a moment she sees flies on her face eating the flesh from a gunshot wound on her jaw. After her freak out it goes away making her look like the cute blonde she is once more.
As she gets up to get help she begins to remember what happened to her and we see two men attacked her and Billy, but the question is… how is she alive? She heads back home to get her father, but finds the same men that killed her and Billy are now about to pull the trigger on her father.
The story is very straight-forward and really nothing new. Lady Demon is trapped in her human host and her human host is about to get all kinds of revenge for the death of her family… and herself. Meanwhile Lady Demon has left hell after a failed takeover attempt. Again, not anything really new, but it was decent enough that I would continue on the journey with Violet and Lady Demon.
The art is definitely some of the best to appear on a Chaos! title thus far. Mirka Andolfo’s style is bubbly, sexy, violent and awesome. I would definitely read a book about relationships and couples hanging out in the grass if Andolfo was illustrating. It’s almost a shame that the story didn’t stay there longer. I also enjoyed that Andolfo’s sexy illustrations weren’t over the top. Sometimes it’s a bit awkward to read comics like this in public, but I think Andolfo controlled the amount of cheesecake very well and kept it tasteful.
The coloring definitely elevates the story. I have to wonder where Dynamite suddenly got all of these talented colorists? The colorists give the book a water-color feel to it, but it really matches the vibe of Andolfo’s art.
Overall I don’t know if this issue is going to win you over on the Chaos! line, but it’s a decent read with just enough cheesecake and just enough over the top violence to entertain. If you can dig that then you should check the issue out.
Score: 3/5
Writer: Aaron Gillespie Artist: Mirka Andolfo Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment Price: $3.99 Release Date: 12/10/14 Format: Print/Digital