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We Have Demons #1 steps up to bat down two strikes.
One: The premise is a war between good and evil, the premise so uninteresting Vertigo Comics would allegedly spike any pitch that included it.
Two: The first few pages are a figurative wall of text.
Then again, down two strikes isn’t out, and to stretch the metaphor, the team of Greg Capullo and Scott Snyder is a pretty good hitter. Capullo (alongside inker Jonathan Glapion) will excel at drawing big monsters and big moments, and We Have Demons #1 is full of those two things. No one here turns in bad work; the premise (Snyder describes it as “like the Saturday morning cartoons we grew up on…but R rated” in the backmatter) doesn’t hook me.
Letterer Tom Napolitano has fun with the word balloons of the demons. His work makes the demons feel cackling and hostile. I don’t have any color notes, sorry, Dave McCaig.
This isn’t a problem unique to We Have Demons, but Snyder’s vision is a difficult target to hit: he envisions a summer blockbuster that’s: R-rated for violence and gruesome demons as well as big on heart. Maybe the closest comparison is an attempt to make a rousing version of Berserk?
I don’t think We Have Demons #1 hits that target. Inside the premise, there are plenty of things that play to Capullo/Glapion’s strengths. This team, or most of it, made Batman for years. The trouble isn’t anyone’s draftsmanship or talent. The premise is a non-starter for me.
For the print edition through Dark Horse (first covered here), the team adds what appears to be the full script for the issue plus some introductory backmatter. Said full script beefs up the issue and is a thoughtful touch. For my money, it’s a mismatch, but for yours, maybe not.
Scott Snyder! Greg Capullo!
Since the very dawn of man, legends have been told of the conflict between angel and demon-kind. Lam Lyle, a woman of science, dismissed these stories as just that–fiction. But when the loss of a loved one leads to the discovery of a hulking, benevolent demon named Hellvis, Lam realizes that her life is about to undergo a dire new direction. With a newfound partner and awesome powers now at her disposal, our hero suddenly finds herself thrust into a climactic war of good and evil with no less than the fate of the world hanging in the balance . . .
* Includes sketch material and original scripts.
We Have Demons #1
Review by James Hepplewhite
6/10
This isn’t a problem unique to We Have Demons, but Snyder’s vision is a difficult target to hit: he envisions a summer blockbuster that’s: R-rated for violence and gruesome demons as well as big on heart. Maybe the closest comparison is an attempt to make a rousing version of Berserk?
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