Dead of Night: Devilslayer
Issue: #1
Writer: Brian Keene
Artist: Chris Samnee
32 pp. Marvel Comics. $3.99
Reviewed by Paul Stotts
Military conflicts have a long history of being used by horror writers as settings for their stories. Clearly, war is hell, and hell is an attractive venue for the very best horror stories. So like apple pie and ice cream, the two seemingly go together. Some of the most frightening horror ever written have been accounts of the Holocaust by concentration camp survivors. To know true fear, one only has to read Elie Wiesel's "Night". Sometimes the truth is more horrific than the fiction.
The first issue of Dead of Night: Devilslayer uses the current conflict in Iraq as its setting. The story wastes no time in putting its cards on the table. On the first page Iraq is equated to Hell. After that point, it probably becomes even more nihilistic. As a character explains early: "they told us in school that this was where civilization started. This will probably be where it ends, too." So within the first few pages we've already gotten brimstone and apocalyptic goodness. I don't know about you kids, but this sounds like the beginning of a horror story to me.
Sergeant Daniel Sylva has returned to Iraq for his third tour of duty after experiencing a difficult time readjusting to life in the States. Reunited with his buddies in Q.R.F., Daniel is quickly brought back up to speed on the current situation. It appears that one of Daniel's mates has been captured, the problem is they don't know by who. When the Q.R.F receives an anonymous tip about the missing private, the guys are dispatched to a warehouse. But what they find inside the warehouse will change the team forever.
Writer Brian Keene does a great job plotting the issue, filling in the details of Sylva's back story with some clever presentation. There is a page long flashback sequence of the problems that Daniel encountered in the States that is wonderful storytelling. The dialogue is well-done and feels realistic. Nothing struck me as clunky or flat which is unusually for the medium. Some of it seems more politically motivated but this may be because the Iraq conflict is still a contentious political issue in America. It's hard to comment on the situation without it coming off as potentially part of the author's political agenda. Like many first issues, this one sets up the groundwork for the rest of the series. So there is not a lot of payoff here. But the cliffhanger ending is intriguing enough that I'd want to give the second issue a look.
Chris Samnee does a respectable job on the art in the issue. The heaviness to the inking fits nicely with the story line, so the art won't knock you out of the story. However, it's not going to make you sit up and take notice of it either.
Overall, the first issue of Dead of Night: Devilslayer holds some promise. Now the question is will Keene and Samnee be able to build upon this promise in the next issue, or will the series suffer its own personal hell.
Final Grade: 72 out of 100
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