Review – The Eighth Seal #3 (of 5) (IDW Publishing)

Publisher: IDW Publishing
Writer: James Tynion IV
Artist(s): Jeremy Rock, Vanesa R. Del Rey
Release Date: 3rd February, 2016

A woman is caught in the grips of bad dreams. Not finding yourself naked in the middle of the canteen kind of bad dreams, more the kind that you imagine yourself being split wide open by a horrific demon. Your husband’s head peeling open to reveal a thousand eyes. Your stomach giving explosive birth (think John Hurt) to a hell monster. And you wake up screaming at the monsters, screaming on national television that you want to kill everybody. You hunger for murder. This is all pretty difficult to deal with but what if you are the First Lady?

And like most things in a First Lady’s life, I would imagine, everyone around you seems to know more about what’s going on that you do. In issue 2, Amelia Greene woke from a nightmare to carve a seal on a desk, so that gets picked up in this issue where a father and daughter discuss breaking the eighth seal.

This story is safe in James Tynion’s hands. It feels very much like a solid story with the momentum to keep propelling forward. Focusing on the First Lady is a bit of a treat and she is most certainly not a 19th century wife, ready to wither at the prospect of a small fright. The artwork is clean, classy and when needed, horrific. The marriage of a modern, elite sphere and mystical, ancient one is handled deftly. Definitely a series to be possessed by.

Rating: 4/5.

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