If demonic possession exists on a scale, then Malevolent would lean closer to Ash in Army of Darkness than Regan in The Exorcist.
That’s my mostly clever way of saying that the story of a human-demon hybrid (demons here are called Mals, FYI) helping a team of demon-fighting cops tickled my soul with its novel spin on an old trope. At the same time, I wasn’t completely gripped, and concerns around character interactions, world-building, and the story’s depth and sustainability had me a touch worried.
Malevolent #2 didn’t really do much to move the meter, but that’s not to say the spirit still didn’t move me in some important enough ways.
To an extent, this issue earns a gold star for at least getting on with the story of Morgan and her new partners. There was just enough world-building in Malevolent #1 (without feeling overwhelming), and Malevolent #2 sees us getting right into another demonic “event” spurred on by a vengeful old man. We know just enough (hell crossed over into our realm 30 years ago, we use sigils to guard and track these demons, Morgan may be the only way to make real progress in closing the gate/defeating Hell, etc.) and that’s quite alright with me.
So Malevolent #2 is basically just a chance for the team (writer Justin Jordan and artists Felipe Sobreiro and John Bivens) to show us lots of sick demonic takeovers (it’s not a traditional possession, and visually it feels both cleaner and altogether more frightening) as well as procedural stuff that would be right at home in the wildest episode of S.W.A.T. ever. We even get some minor world-building with the introduction of new weapons, and while that’s small enough, any effort to grow our understanding and immersion feels quite important and effective enough. (Again, though, without sacrificing momentum.) Plus, the creative team know how to infuse stakes, and build up these confrontations, to make them feel even more robust.
Courtesy of Image Comics.
At the same time, all that sweet action made me yearn for more character work. So far, Morgan still remains a mystery, and while there’s hints/glances at what she may be up to or capable of (again, it’s the art telling so much of the story without uttering a world), it’s just not enough already. I want to really understand just who she is — is she as child-like as we suspect, or is Morgan just playing nice to mess with us? The emotionality we do get is mostly the cops being unsure and unimpressed by their “rookie,” and that feels a little cliche and half-cocked at this point. (The fact that I don’t even use the cops’ names, and I even wrote them down, just shows how little they’ve resonated with me so far.) We need a little more by now in this second issue to feel like this book isn’t only truly capable of only telling one part of the story (the thrilling parts).
There’s some “resolution” to this tension at the issue’s midway point. Without revealing too much, Morgan isn’t quite as dominant in devouring her foes (literally, she eats her fellow Mals), and the team have to back her up. Sure, that shows their skills/effectiveness, but even that rang a little hollow in terms of being more meaningful and/or having more heft and stakes attached. I’d even argue that a moment just before that, where one of the cops learns the hard way about the rules of this world, is more effective in that at least there’s consequences being presented and we see how much these folks still need one another. So far, the team just seems either too far apart or layered in such a way that things are slow-moving, a touch cliched, and without the mettle to make some real headway.
I mentioned a procedural like S.W.A.T. before, and that feels really apt for explaining where Malevolent is at right now. Yes, it looks and feels like a badass horror story — like an even gnarlier version of Werewolves Within mixed with, say, Hellraiser. But it doesn’t do much with that “armor,” and by acting like every slightly hacky cop show ever, Malevolent is stymieing its own progression and momentum. There’s clearly stuff percolating here (the horror-leaning action, the core visual identity, story hints/tidbits, etc.), but it needs to be more overt and obvious if this story’s going to flourish. Right now, it’s not doing enough to break through its inspirations and a solid base from issue #1 to really grab us by the neck and start thrashing us about.
But with a neat little reveal toward the end (which certainly could add more fire and greater odds to this story), Malevolent demonstrates there’s really something simmering here. Perhaps it’s just a case of more time/issues helping the story lay out all of its cards to get us feeling the weight of both the demonic threats and interpersonal conflict. Or, that once we have more story behind us, we can see just what exactly Malevolent was doing all along.
Either way, I’ll give this title more time to consume my mortal soul before simply praying for the end.
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