K: ::looks in crystal ball, planning trips two years into the future:: Looks like we’ve got a New Orleans trip coming up in a few years.
D: New Orleans? Really? The Malmons hitting the land of Saints football and po’ boy sandwiches? Interesting…
K: No, no. It’ll be good. See, we can explore the French Quarter, and then grab some beignets. Then we can visit the historic cemeteries, and then grab some beignets. And then we’ll take in some of that jazz you like…
D: … and then grab some beignets?
K: YES!
D: ::shines flashlight in face, blinds self:: Thought so. You know, The Big Easy has quite the supernatural undertones.
K: That flashlight trick only works when you’re in the dark, dummy. And yes, I’m aware of the spookiness of the Crescent City. Heck, Swamp Thing lives in the bayou.
::speaks into a water glass:: And it doesn’t get much more creepy than a Muck Encrusted Mockery of a Man!
D: You’re right on my wavelength, Red. You wanna talk creepy monster-types in the City That Care Forgot? Then let’s talk KISS ME, SATAN, the new creator-owned comic by Victor Gischler and Juan Ferreyra.
K: ::does best Church Lady, which is actually pretty bad:: “Kiss me, SAAATAAAN?”
D: Shush, you. Time to read monster comics.
K: ::tosses comic across the kitchen table:: I think I missed something when I went to the Big Easy a few years ago because I DO NOT remember seeing demons or werewolves when I was there. Maybe they were down that one creepy alley.
D: So this is the first issue in a five issue miniseries. The first thing Gischler tells us is that “New Orleans is a werewolf city!” They run all organized crime in the city. Cassian Steele is the current leader of the lycanthrope mob. He has the witch Verona and her three… witchlings?… out to stately Steele manor to examine his pregnant wife and his unborn child. Things go south from there.
K: In my experience, any dealings with the Dark Arts end up going south from there.
D: True enough, my moral companion. True enough. Say, hand me that Ouija board, will you? Anyway, it turns out Steele’s unborn baby doesn’t have the Mark of the Lycanthrope on him. And the thought of the leader of the werewolf mob having a normal human for an heir is unfathomable.
K: Grim tidings, indeed. Hey, I’m going to consult my Magic 8 ball here. And let’s not forget our “hero” Barnabus Black! He’s the fallen angel trying to get right with God. Seems he sided with Lucifer during the Great Rebellion. And now he wants to return. Our boy Barnabus was sitting at the Café du Monde, probably trying to enjoy some beignets, and some demons are all up in his business.
D: Barnabus is pretty badass. His angel liaison, Jules, sends him on a mission from God. Barnabus needs to do work for the good guys in order to get back on God’s Good Side so he’s sent to protect a coven of witches. Not just any coven, but the coven that just delivered the bad news to the Steele family.
K: Damn. It all comes full circle in the Crescent City. There are so many unanswered questions that readers HAVE to come back next month. How will Barnabus protect the witches? What’s going to happen to the werewolf gang? Will we get to sample the beignets? Have you seen my rabbit’s foot? It was around here somewhere…
D: Readers will want to come back for the story as well as the art. Juan Ferreyra knocks it out of the park with the pencils on this book. His use of perspective and switching focus from one frame to the next totally enhances the story. His work has a painted look to it that is detailed, but not overly rendered. His action scenes are some of the most exciting I’ve seen in quite awhile. I expect to see Ferreyra’s name on many more books coming up.
K: For once, we’re on total agreement. KISS ME, SATAN is no mere hocus-pocus. Gischler and Ferreyra must have made a deal with devil to make a book this good.