It’s somehow comforting they still eat ice cream in Hell. As the manic Midori says, even if it’s some rotten Hell flavor, ANY ice cream is better than NO ice cream. She’s the damned daughter of a Yakuza demon lord, leading a group of cursed children on heists and hijinks in the nether realms. Whether you believe it or not, they technically all belong there. It would just be nice to think kids get time off for good behavior. But what’s good behavior in Hell?
Xander Waterford tortured frogs in life, so the frog devil Bufobeez tortures him throughout eternity — whenever the frog can catch him. Though Midori might look like a misplaced schoolgirl, she makes up for it in personality. Maybe Ernie Comstock doesn’t deserve his place. He was just murdered by a cursed axe, giving him the strange ability to pull an endless supply of duplicate axes from his head wound. Convenient, that, since it’s close enough to being Midori’s weapon of choice. In Hell We Fight is a far cry from Hot Stuff the Little Devil.
With undertones of 80s kids adventures but reaching as far back as Simon and Kirby kid gangs, this ragtag bunch of ragadaemons do have one innocent member. Ironically, it’s a literal demon child. Balphadagon just wants to belong, though he has a stronger connection to Midori than either wants to realize.
What starts as a complicatedly goofy ice cream heist quickly spirals out of control, giving writer John Layman a chance to let us into the twisted cosmology of his imagination. You may have been in other corners with Chew, Chu, Eleanor and the Egret, and a few Godzilla stories. Then there was his great kids’ adventure book Bermuda.
But this isn’t sunny Bermuda; this is sultry Hell. As you’ve gleaned by now, In Hell We Fight is about kids but not for younger kids. It is, however, fun as… well, hell.
The kids all have realistic personalities, even the Assassin Princess Midori. She’s just a bad seed gone a lot overboard. Artist JOK brings them to full life. You can see Ernie’s underlying misery, and the strange sweetness of Balphadagon. While we get their humanity, JOK also draws one chaotic Hell. (Technically, several Hells.) Layman seems to always find the right collaborators to illuminate his ideas. Together, they create a singular vision.
I got a look at the first four issues but am staying in just the first for this review. Suffice to say that even being given a huge preview, I immediately wanted to read issue #5. Together, Layman and JOK have brought us the devil’s playground, and I can’t wait for the rest of you to catch up on the teeter totter. Though that first drop is probably a doozy.
In Hell We Fight #1 arrives at your local comics shop on June 7. Ask for it by name.
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