Malevolent #2 // Review
The demon in the box is smiling. She’s holding a teddy bear that looks a bit concerned. It only has a single eye. There are a lot of people looking through the translucent box at her as she smiles at them. They’re expected to be working with her, but they weren’t told about her before her first deployment. So naturally they’re going to be more than a little bit apprehensive in Malevolent #2. Writer Justin Jordan continues an enjoyable sci-fi horror serial into its second issue with artist John Bivens. Color comes to the page courtesy of Delipe Sobreiro.
There is so much no reason why they should know what they want to know about this weapon that's been created. They're going to be forced to work with her anyway. And they're going to be forced to work with her under a very bad conditions involving demons not entirely unlike her that could be very, very dangerous themselves. What's the worst that could happen? Well, they're about to find out as they're facing a force that seems to be possessing a whole lot of people. People who are innocent bystanders, even as their possessed, and forced to commit mayhem.
Jordan’s concept continues to hold a great deal of potential. The combination of science fiction and horror I feel particularly interesting in a squad based military sort of an action serial. The format allows for a lot of different possibilities with a lot of different types of malicious magical evil. The decision to go straight to a more abstract, demonic force in the second issue raises this stakes and a story that goes straight for some more serious complexity. It may seem like a kind of an early point at which to introduce this kind of threat. The initial issue was such a powerful action encounter. Throwing the characters into something completely new. The second issue seems a bit rushed. It's still very entertaining, though.
The demon weapon continues to feel like and enjoyable mystery on the page. A lot of the reason why it has to do with Bivens’ straight ahead, portrayal of her on the page. Though she relax, more straightforward, social presence on the page, remarkably vivid emotion can be right across her face. The mystical energies that are swirling across the page through demonic horror. Don't necessarily have a chance to be quite as unsettling as they could be. However, there is more than enough action shooting across the page to feel suitably enjoyable.
There are so many questions regarding a culture that would have to constantly deal with demonic incursion into daily life. The basic psychological situation for people living in a city, like the one depicted would create a fascinating sort of a culture. It would be cool to see the creative team, drawing a little bit more into the periphery of the story. It's understandable that there is a lot of work to be done with the basic premise. And it's understandable that there wouldn't be as much time for peripheral matters. It is, however, kind of difficult to get into the action of the series without having a more firm understanding of the world in which it's set.
