By T.W. WORN — It is a crisp Autumn night in 2018, and turbulent psychedelic rays of light bounce above the sweating crowd of a busy bar on a busy night. The thumping bass of the speakers leaks onto the ground, the patrons bobbing in the rhythm as they wade through fellow patrons to the bar. I am sitting, in a suit, next to my friends. The sound of laughter slinks through my ears, echoes in my head, and pours out my mouth along with the rest of the group. The music in the bar shifts in tone, no longer a grooving anthem of eternal adolescence. It is slow and sinister. The cold frequency of a pipe organ. I look over to the DJ, confused. They say something about how he has finally arrived for us, and laughs. I tilt my head in confusion. 

It is a crisp autumn night in 2020, and outside it is cold and calm. I pull out my phone and begin to type my review for Sympathy For No Devils. Once again, I am conflicted by a comic. All the pieces scream "This is something for you, T.W.", but when assembled, I am underwhelmed. Brandon Thomas (The Many Adventures of Miranda Mercury, Excellence) sets up a noir tale set in an alternate reality where demons are the dominant species and there is only one human left. I keep telling myself that this should be doing something more for me, but rarely does a noir story get a chance to spread its wings in the first issue, and at the end of the day a noir story should be about its characters. How do I feel about the characters? I am unsure. The main character is an ex Detective, Winston Wallis, who is pulled back into the game after a series of synchronistic events. Also, he is the last human alive and is too lucky to die.. At least, that is what I think is happening. It is a bold move, but Thomas throws you into this world with very little explanation. You learn an abstract understanding of Wallis and his connections to other characters, but it's just quick peaks into their history. On top of this, very little about their world and situation is explained to you. I actually don't mind this, because Science Fantasy isn't a genre, in my opinion. It's a setting, and only the important components of the world need to be explained. You get that in Sympathy For No Devils, I only wish it has been done a little more graceful. 

We are back to that crisp autumn night of 2018. The organ music is now consuming my mind. My friends continue to laugh and drink along with other bar patrons. No one else seems to notice the music. The DJ points and smiles towards the door. I turn around on my stool to see what he is pointing at. That is when I noticed him. It. It slowly entered the bar, door closing behind.  It is about 6 feet tall. A black abyss of a cloak covered its body, and danced along the floor. A hood obscured its face. Sleeves crawled across its arms down to its hands. It was holding a staff. No. A syth. It was death, and I was the only one who had noticed. 

We are back in the crisp autumn of 2020. I am looking over the artwork of Sympathy For No Devils. Lee Ferguson (Freak, Sam and His Talking Gun) brings us some fun creature designs. Each species feels real and important to the history of the world. The city design feels real. I know I am in a living space, and it is brought to life even more by José Villarrubia's (Promethea, Cube: My Revolution) colors. It adds a depth and texture to the work, throwing us into a world of 1990s retro-futurism. Much of the world is given to us because the letting of Simon Bowland takes up only the space it needs. Each panel placed me in the worlds of animated science fiction shows I grew up with. 

It is the crisp autumn night of 2018 and Death is coming for me. The organ's music loomed over my existence as it approached. My friends are unaware of my panic. I look over at them and they are no longer my friends. I am at a table with Jigsaw, Jason, Pennywise the clown, a zombie, Frankenstein and his bride, and a penis. I look back at Death. In its hand is a drink. My panic began to fade. I play back the events of the night and finally remember everything. 

It was Halloween, and I was high on psilocybin mushrooms. 

OVERALL: It is too early to judge the story of Sympathy For No Devils, but there is enough fantastic art and mystery to make this first issue worth a read. 6/10

Review: Sympathy For No Devils #1

Sympathy For No Devils #1
Writer: Brandon Thomas
Artist: Lee Ferguson
Colorist: José Villarrubia'
Letterer: Simon Bowland
Publisher: Aftershock Comics
Price: $4.99
Winston Wallis has a secret. He is all that remains of mankind, and is surrounded on all sides by demons, monsters, and ghouls that picked up where humankind left off - lying, stealing, cheating, and killing. Years ago, it was Winston's job to investigate such things. Now his ex-partner needs help solving the brutal murder of the world's largest Colossal. Because he knows the secret. He knows about the magical curse that gives Winston the ability to survive a world where everything is bigger, stronger, and angrier than he is. But how long can Win's impossible luck last, and will this new case finally be the death of him? He certainly hopes so...From Brandon Thomas (Excellence) and Lee Ferguson (Sam and His Talking Gun), the critically-acclaimed creators of The Many Adventures of Miranda Mercury, comes a bold new series filled with murder, mystery, monsters, and magic! 
Buy It Digitally: Sympathy For No Devil’s #1

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I'm T.W. Worn and have a Happy Halloween