You know what’s great? Those 70’s B-movies with buxom babes, blood and over the top violence. They’re the perfect kind of cheesecake kind of fun that you can laugh at and escape for 90 minutes. You know it’s bad but who cares? Every once in a while a B-movie comes along and ends up being genuinely good. That is the comic “Nancy in Hell.”
Don’t you hate it when you die before you’re supposed to? Nancy does. Unjustly sent to Hell she does the only obvious thing and picks up a chainsaw and hacks her way through the nine levels to make it out. What makes her so unique; she’s aware she’s there. When most people die, they become one of the “brain-dead.” Every so often you’ll get someone like Nancy, someone who knows what’s going on. She needs to use that to escape but when you know nothing of Hell, you’ll need help. A guide. And who would know better than a remorseful, deposed Lucifer. This is a red-skinned, horned, cloven-hoofed man with a pitchfork and a sharp goatee, no. Lucifer is as he was. One of the most high. A beautiful man; one that feels remorse for how he spurned God and was punished to Hell. He understands Nancy and together they take off to fight their way through to a doorway. But there are those that don’t want to them to leave. Mysterious demons with their own plans and schemes. It builds through violence and insanity to a climactic twist that can leave a jaw dropped.
El Torres has written a few very great disturbing comics in his time. All underrated gems. “The Veil,” and “the Suicide Forrest” are two high concept and smartly written stories. “Nancy in Hell” stands as strong as they are but is probably the most likely to be overlooked. Wonderfully twisted and detailed art by Enrique Lopez Lorenzana really adds new layers of insanity to the look of Hell. The art plus the writing make the book as clever and engrossing as it is but what’s difficult is getting people to believe that it is that well-done. Check the book out for is gore and stay for the story. With a sequel that has just been released, “Nancy in Hell on Earth,” the original little mini-series will hopefully get some notice because it deserves it.