Created, written and illustrated by: Stjepan Šejić
Cover by: Stjepan Šejić
Published by: Top Cow, Image Comics
Summary:
At the start of this series, Death Vigil, the first few pages establish the world that readers will step into when they decide to pick up this book. The main character, Sam, belongs to a group of slayers named the “Death Vigil”, and they help protect humanity from evil necromancers that attach their souls to willing demonic creatures that allow them to roam the earth. I love that the plot of this series is easily explained within the first few pages, as this is an issue I run across in other books, where the plot is never explained, yet inferred through the reasoning of the reader.
The next scene goes into a murky dream, which leads Maria Benes to wake up from her slumber. She meets Arek, who begs her to help join in the fight against the pale court. The book goes deeper into the origins of monsters such as the primordials, and how they send people into “xenoshock” or a type of stasis. Characters such as Clara and Sam explain the roots of the problem and how to avoid being “shocked”.
The issue goes further as we see how familiar spirits attach themselves to necromancers in order to transform into liches, disturbing monsters. We see other characters appear and fight off necromancers such as Bernie and Clara. The issue ends with a sword exiting out of Clara’s chest.
Stjepan Šejić has a way with illustrating clear facial expressions that lead to character drama and interactions between the reapers and the necromancers. I am interested to see how the Death Vigil will handle protecting the veil from future issues in the next few issues. I think readers who like to read books that get straight to the point and are hilarious in tone will enjoy Death Vigil.
Overall: 8.5/10
India Williams is a comic writer and reviewer based in Florida. She is a lifelong comics fan, with favorites including Thor, Conan, G.I. Joe, and Speed Racer. When she’s not writing comics or reviewing them, she enjoys toy photography.
