A young lady gets kidnapped by a group of young men, but the hell they put her through over the next 44 days is the things nightmares are made of. The torture and humiliation will never die, but the perpetrators may not have that same luxury.
Credit: dark horse comics
Devil on my Shoulder #1
Written By Kyle Starks – Art By Piotr Kowalski
Colors By Brad Simpson - Letters By Joshua Reed
Edited By Daniel Chabon - Published By Dark Horse Comics
***Minor Spoilers Possible***
STORY OVERVIEW:
A young woman is found barely alive on the shore. We then go back in time to find out her name is Tee and she was abducted by a group of young men outside of her work. She was then taken to a barn where she had to endure humiliation and torture at the hands of these men. They did everything from telling her not to speak, telling her that her name is Dogs**t, beating her, torturing her, and far worse.
This went on for days, then weeks, then over a month before the men were done with her and discarded her. They think she is dead, but they didn’t get the job done. Fast forward to four years later and the young men are all bragging about their success seemingly not even caring about what they had done. But someone else is looking on, and they will never forget.
WRITING:
This first issue comes with a warning before the first page of the actual story, and it isn’t a gimmick it is needed. Kyle Starks weaves a horrific tale, and this is just issue one! Starks takes the reader to some very uncomfortable places from the start and never lets off the gas the whole issue. The trauma from the torture and humiliation really strikes a nerve and makes the reader very uncomfortable which makes you feel even more for the victim. By the end of issue one you’re no longer sad for the victim, but you are now angry and can’t wait to see her get her revenge.
ARTWORK:
The art in this book is very graphic and really puts the reader in an uncomfortable position. Piotr Kowalski does a fantastic job of showing the reader the horror of the situation. Kowalski takes the uncomfortable story and ramps it up with some truly horrific images. The art is graphic in nature and is not for the faint of heart or the younger audience. Brad Simpson really makes the art pop with the color choices. The colors really show the despair and darkness of the story stand out.
Final Grade: 10/10
Devil on my Shoulder #1 is a wonderfully disturbing story that really captures the essence of revenge horror. The graphic and disturbing nature of issue one is needed to really make the reader feel sympathy and later anger, so going forward we will be behind the revenge killings. Just based on how disturbing issue one is, has me excited as a horror fan about what will happen next. If you love horror and revenge stories this will be the book for you. Head to the LCS, grab a copy, give it a read, and then promptly add this title to your Pull List.