Review: The Watcher #3

In the previous issue of The Watcher #2, the town held a funeral for Derek and Stacy, the couple that were mysteriously murdered in the woods.Â After the funeral, Tamra, Erica and Chris went to see a psychic who gives them a reading that seems to implicate Erica’s creepy neighbor could behind Derek and Stacy“s murder. This prompts Erica and Tamra to break in his basement, only to make a terrifying discovery that leads to an interesting trove of historical documents there.

In the current issue of The Watcher #3, We find out thatÂ Erica’s creepy neighbor is not who they thought he was.Â Her New England town has had encounters with demons since the 17th century. At one point a succubus and her lover were killed at a house in the town.Â The land called the Black House, has been a portal for demons ever since.

Watcher seemed intent on check-listing a magic box of demonic clichÃ©s; Demons coming through portals, Red Eyes glowing, decaying skin with horns, demons coming through a magic portal, and of course the virgin sacrifice.Â All we were missing was hooves, and maybe a tail.Â The difference maker here was the illusion to the pre-old testament version of Adam, and his then companion Lilith, also known as Ki-sikil-lil-la-keÂ and she is described as the “gladdener of all hearts” and “maiden who screeches constantly”.Â Its a part of source for the Biblical texts that“s often neglected.

The art team of Babisu Kourtis, Fran Gamboa, and J.C. Ruiz utilize subtle lighting and lingering shadows within the artwork to accomplish a foreboding mood to the panels to produce an effect that was needed for this horror tale.

Best Part of the issue: The big reveal, of “who is a demon and who is not?” Did nicely pull it together.

Best art Panel: As with any Zenescope issue, there are a lot of great panels in this issue, Â but the image of the demon standing over you, as it was calmly sippingÂ chocolateÂ was a nice touch.

Final Verdict:Â 2.8 stars out of 5.Â I feel like Victoria Rau ended this a little too quickly, as this story could have easily have gone another 12 issues.Â The tension was building very nicely only for it to have resolved itself so abruptly.Â I gotta admit that Victor Rau did leave the door open for firther development, but the most interesting piece has already been taken out of the equation.

(W) Ralph Tedesco (A) Babisu Kourtis (CA) Marco Mastrazzo