Advance Review: Evil Rears Several Ugly Heads In ‘The Devil That Wears My Face’ #1

The recent passing of The Exorcist director William Friedkin has brought the horror movie back into the headlines. But in reality, for a generation or two of moviegoers, that movie – which broke several taboos related to religion – is etched into their collective consciousness. As a result, fairly or not, all exorcism stories are compared to that seminal film – though hopefully without references to split green pea soup.

Instead of soup, there’s plenty of blood flowing in The Devil That Wears My Face, an upcoming illustrated story from publisher Mad Cave. It involves the Vatican’s chief exorcist, Father Franco Vieri, who is sent to Spain in 1740 to banish a demon who has possessed the son of a nobleman. Legion, the demon in question, is incredibly powerful and not willing to give up his host without a good reason.

Writer David Pepose crafts a familiar yet interesting story. The young exorcist seems to be everything we want in a priest – a true believer who publicly defends those with less power and influence, even if it angers the pope’s cadre of advisers. But he seems to have met his match in Legion. The demon makes a literal feast of would-be vanquishers.

Pepose is clearly setting up a bigger story, which makes this first issue a tad problematic because of the spoilerish title. (No spoilers here, but merely reading the title is likely to give away this issue’s cliffhanger.) A graphic novel version of this story – as opposed to a series of monthly installments – may have made more sense. Then again, it’s only the premiere issue and Pepose could very well surprise us with even more twists and turns.

Artist Alex Cormack delivers dark, moody visuals that sucks the reader in from the first page. Interestingly, he employs lots of blacks – the color of priests’ vestments –  throughout the story, from scenes in the Vatican to the castle where Legion is imprisoned. It’s a subtle but effective way of reinforcing the notion that few are innocent in this story.

Special credit to letterer Justin Birch for his reversed text when Legion is speaking. As if Cormack’s visuals weren’t frightening enough, the dialogue gets extra creepy with this treatment. That is something that a film like The Exorcist simply can’t replicate.

With the issue’s big reveal now behind them, it will be interesting to see how the creative team continues the narrative. Will the story and the imagery remain in the darkness, or will they bring it into the light? A strong start like this all but guarantees an audience to follow them on this journey.

The Devil That Wears My Face #1 will be available for purchase on October 4, 2023.