Review: Obey Me #2

Dynamite“s Obey Me is based on a game. It“s a game I“ve never heard of or played so I had no expectations going into the book. Which should be good. I usually prefer to let the work stand on its own. Usually.

Vanessa is a minor demon paired up with hell-hound Monte to get the soul of a guy who promised it to her boss. There is a minor complication in that the guy sold his soul twice, so there is another demon and hell-hound bounty hunting team on the case for a rival demon. In their search, Vanessa and Monte run into gang with magic weapons and then another group of magical bounty hunters.

Now, normally I would give more details without spoilers, but that is literally the plot of this issue.

There may be some bigger connection to this in the overall story, but it all comes across as random side quests to fill up time and space until Mario Mentasti (@MarioKMentasti) decides it is time to get back to the main plot. Usually these quests are there to fill in the player (or in this case, readers) on more about the characters and how their power work — you know, world building. But in this case, all we learn is that Monte has a different form sometimes.

The dialogue is frequently supposed to come across as quip-y, but instead feel generic and tired. It seems like it was taken out of almost every 80“s buddy cop movie.

Unfortunately, Ben Herrera“s (Wolverine, Batman) art is not coming to the rescue here either. The art in this book looks rough and the faces often look rushed and off. The art slides from a fairly realistic style to cartoony with a disturbing abruptness. These shifts don“t serve the story well as Monte“s more demonic form could easily fit a Hanna-Barbera cartoon, while his regular tattooed Doberman look is much more frightening.

I get the sense that this all has a very different feel in the game. But it looks like this is a case where moving from one medium to another needs more adjustment to the different form. Maybe fans of the game are getting more out of this book than I am. There are plenty of comic books out there featuring a spunky woman anti-hero, there is nothing that really stands out in this book.

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Writer: Mario Mentasti
Artist: Ben Herrera
Colors: Emmanuel Ordaz Torres
Letterer: Justin Birch
Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment

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Andy Hall

Sent from the future by our Robot Ape overlords to preserve the timeline. Reading and writing about comics until the revolution comes. All hail the Orangutan Android Solar King!