REVIEW: The Devil You Know #1

Written by: Frank Mula
Pencils: Kellik M Iskandar
Inks: Nunun Nurjannah
Colored by: Victoria Pittman
Lettered by: Victoria Pittman
Edited by: Sal Brucculeri
Publisher: AA88 Press

Neither a good man, nor an evil man, Greydon Cross comes home one night to find his family murdered by none other than Satan himself. Killed and offered a chance at revenge by God, Greydon must traverse the 7 layers of hell with one goal, kill the devil and take his place.

This book has a really great concept and an interesting spin on the Dante“s Inferno tale of a journey through the seven layers of hell, especially as Greydon is essentially a character on a mission from God where he is being allowed to fulfill his grandest revenge fantasies. However, writer Frank Mula gives us very little reason to care about Greydon“s plight our situation, yes his family is murdered but that scenario is gone after a page and we are not allowed to feel his pain or anguish which would allow us to empathize with the character. Instead this issue culminates in an overly long fight scene between some daemons as Greydon explores his God given powers, whilst this is fun it leaves us very little reason to come back for subsequent issues as after reading the whole issue I felt disengaged with the character and thus the story.

Kellick“s pencils are quite detailed if a little rough in places that allow the plot to flow well. However some panels do seem a little rushed which take you out of the experience of reading the book as you notice and angle is not quite right or a face is slightly weighted towards one side. The composition in the fight scenes is great amounts of fun and when the art team is allowed to cut loose they are quite fun.

The Devil You Know is a really interesting concept that unfortunately suffers from a lack of pacing or character engagement. Hopefully in future issues the characters will be explored in greater detail allowing you to have that engagement that will see you through Greydon“s struggle to become the lord of hell.

2/5

THE DEVIL YOU KNOW is currently available in print atÂ aa88press.com/storeÂ for $3.99 plus shipping and handling as well as ComiXology (http://cmxl.gy/1tMfMcW).Â for the price of $1.99.

You can follow AA88Press atÂ aa88press.com, on twitter @aa88press and on tumblr atÂ http://aa88press.tumblr.com.

Author Profile

Matt Deery

Matt Deery is an avid comic reader from the UK, relatively new to the writing scene but, enjoying being part of the Comic Crusaders team and getting to talk about some the books that I adore. Will read almost anything Marvel, with Spider-Man and Iron Man being my all time favorite comic book characters and has recently found a love for Image and Valiant books and generally anything Sci FI or Espionage related. Check out my twitter @brujah69ad if you want to stop by and talk comics, video games or movies!