Comics: Her Infernal Descent #1 - Reviewed


Trevor reviews Her Infernal Descent #1

Ever wondered what you would do if you were invited into a Dante Alighieri type of situation? Well, that’s what this book explores. This first issue was something new, and yet completely familiar. We meet a woman who’s lost it all, living in isolation, when she’s met by the ghost of one of the greatest poets and artists the world has ever known, William Blake. She is then offered the chance to go on the same journey that Dante once led us on, a trip through the levels of hell.

The art is exactly what it needs to be, solid and grounded but possessing a dream like quality that is at once gripping and at other times ethereal. The line work does it’s job, it gives a nice delineation between the worlds. We are greeted by familiar and unfamiliar faces but all with names we know quite well. I won’t give anything away, but you bibliophiles and music fans keep your eyes on the pages. The coloring does it’s job, it’s not spectacular or ground breaking but works quite well to convey it’s message.

Now the story, the writing and the dialogue. It’s a bizarre yet lovely mix of modern language complete with cursing, sarcasm and full of snark, yet, it’s so much more. Half of the dialogue is Rhyme and Meter. Some of you, me included, would expect any comic book attempt at bringing Olde English back to life to feel like the Stan Lee contrivances of the old Thor books, complete with “varily’s” “forsooth’s” and “thou’s." Even though the book uses the language of the time period, it does it in a manner that is, well frankly, beautiful. It somehow carries the weight of the poets that are showcased within. And while some of it is direct quotes from those masters, it almost always feels perfect and graceful. It does at times feel a bit contrived, as if they had a historical figure that they desperately wanted to squeeze in there. For me though, it did not at all detract from the story.

I’ve read Her Infernal Descent three times now, in the day and a half since I received my review copy, and every time I find something new to enjoy. It’s the literature nerd’s comic. It covers so much ground and does it with perfect eloquence, leaving me dying for issue 2. If you are a fan of the classics, like a philosophy and religion laden story, then I highly recommend Her Infernal Descent

 -Trevor West