Dance with the Devil

Devil’s Dominion Advanced Review

by Dylan Abuel

Written by Brian Hawkins

Art and Cover by Raffaele Forte

Inks by Sara Ianniello

Colors by Carolina Pontes

Cover Colors by Moose Baumann

Created, Edited, and Published by Dimitrios Zaharakis

Published by Blackbox Comics

Rating: 9/10

We all have our demons. For some, it’s alcoholism or addiction. For others, it’s a bad temper and penchant for violence. There are ways to go about getting over your demons and steps you can take. Internally, with a little focus, willpower, and time, we can put those demons behind us and even get past them. But how much different would it be if the demon within isn’t a metaphor, but an actual demon? Devil’s Dominion explores that and does so with excellent execution and vivid art that’s only lacking the smell of sulfur and brimstone.

This title from Blackbox Comics centers around Devlynn St. Paul. A young woman who tracks demons and does so with her own literal demon. She explains shortly, but not thoroughly, how she and the demon co-exist and what their purpose is on this earth. Their purpose brings them to the issue’s current town and the mysterious rash of missing women that has plagued it. The police stumped, can’t seem to get a decent enough lead as to the whereabouts of these young women, or the supernatural forces that are responsible for their disappearances. Luckily for them, there are also supernatural forces hard at work trying to find them.

Brian Hawkins (editor at Mad Cave Studios) takes the reigns of this wild ride of a first issue, setting up an exciting tale of soul-saving and deals with the devil. There’s this natural flow in the protagonist’s inner monologue that moves this issue pretty effortlessly. Hawkin’s script is brought to life by a visual team consisting of Raffaele Forte, Sara Ianniello, and Carolina Pontes, that manipulate the shadows and hellfire in such a beautiful way, that it’s almost guaranteed the next issues are only going to be more explosive and more vibrant than this one.

Blackbox’s catalog continues to grow and evolve. Militia was a great military story, Pyscho List was an excellent thriller, Bigs & Tiny is the buddy comedy I didn’t know I needed. This string of solid titles is now set to be topped off with Devil’s Dominion. I don’t know where this story is taking Devlynn, but it’s got me hooked and if you’re into seeing what the 9 circles have in store, you will be too!