Advance Review — Demons Comes To Earth In ‘Malevolent’ #1
by Tom Smithyman
Overview
The creative team behind Spread returns for a new horror series that features demons invading our reality. This first issue is straightforward, introducing readers to the concept as well as containment team battling the invaders. But there’s a twist when a human/demon hybrid shows up with an appetite.
Overall
8.5/10The creative team behind the comic book series Spread are back together with a twist on a demon-hunting story.
Malevolent, written by Justin Jordan and drawn by John Bivens, tells the tale of a so-called “cross brane” incursion by malevolent entities. In other words, 30 years ago, demons started leaking into our reality. But it’s not just demons, known as mals, that are playing havoc with us. Their laws of physics burst into our world as well, sending things, more or less, to hell.
In this premiere issue, Malevolent introduces readers to a group of mal hunters — soldiers who are armed not just with Kevlar armor and guns but also dispel wards to subdue the demons. Killing them outright seems to be impossible. That is, until a new member of the team shows up.
Jordan and Bivens have created Morgan, a human/mal hybrid which makes short work of a particularly nasty demon. The mals, it seems, grow by feasting on each other. And we soon see that Morgan is as motivated by making a snack of her fellow mal. (She also seems to love human candy.)
The story is an interesting one, blending elements of horror, the occult, and police procedurals. This first issue is straightforward, clearly meaning to introduce readers to this screwed-up world as well as the would-be solution Morgan. It seems clear that things are going to get a lot more complicated with Morgan in the picture. Jordan is not one to leave well enough alone here.
Bivens artwork is at its best when dealing with the supernatural. His humans are sometimes drawn hurriedly without much detail, but the mals are horrific, and Bivens clearly has fun when the laws of physics are suspended. (One nit though: Morgan feels a little too close to W0rldTr33’s PH34R, though she’s wearing slightly more clothing.)
It’s a decent start for Malevolent. But with this world now established, the real test will be where this creative team takes things from here.
Malevolent #1 will be available in comic book stories and on digital platforms Wednesday from Image Comics.