Publisher: Mad Cave Studios
Writer: David Pepose
Artist: Alex Cormack
Letters: Justin Birch
Release Date: 4th October 2023

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If you told me that I’d be given the opportunity to not only preview an 18th Century version of “The Exorcist meets Face Off”, and that it would be such a good read, I’d have probably called you out. This surprisingly clever premise hits right at the start of spooky season and is right on mood. So if you enjoy horror stories, particularly those with a religious bent, then beware, but read on.

The hook is actually pretty simple, and perhaps one we’ve all seen or heard before. The son of a wealthy Spaniard is possessed by some great evil, either literally or figuratively. Having been locked into a cell, they’ve murdered a number of priests who have gone in to free them from their curse. In steps our protagonist, one Franco Vieri, a young priest once left orphaned on the steps of the Vatican. After some papal politicking, Franco travels to free the soul of the young man in the hopes of securing their fathers fortunes for the church’s coffers.

Whilst not necessarily novel, the familiar build up and backstory looks set to provide more meat on the bones as this debut issue reaches its climax. Without any unintentional spoiling, what seems perhaps a bit of unnecessary padding in the tale looks to help with future issues and contextual introductions of a wider range of characters. The pacing is spot on for this type of story however, and Pepose clearly has a handle on how to craft a tale as well as establish a good foundation. Abley delivered by Birch’s letters, the story gets fitting artwork from Cormack. Not a dig, but the overall effect has a movie like structure and quality which some might feel a safer bet.

Speaking of the art, it’s lovely, but dark. I don’t just mean in terms of subject matter, with a variety of gore filled panels, but the overall look. Cormack uses lots of black and dark greys and blood reds. All incredibly complimentary for both the story’s setting and genre whilst providing better contrast when those splash panels pop off as Vieri confronts the demon in the cell. I’ll caveat by saying that I read this in electronic format so would be very keen to see the finished product in my hands and how this decision to have everything so dark holds up in the flesh as it were.

The Devil That Wears My Face captures the best elements of exorcism stories in this issue but instead of building up to the confrontation as is oft the case, flips that on its head by now focussing on what comes next. This isn’t a tale of good versus evil, but evil versus various shades of grey. Fingers crossed that this series will be able to deliver more of the same as I look forward to seeing the bloody swathe that will no doubt be cut following the conclusion here.

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[PREVIEW ARTWORK – CLICK TO ENLARGE]

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The writer of this piece was: Adam Brown
Adam Tweets from @brother_rooster

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