A bigger game is about to be played.
Creative Staff:
Story: Mario Mentasti
Art: Ben Herrera
Colors: Emanuel Ordaz Torres
Letterer: Justin Birch
What They Say:
Sent to retrieve a soul from a debtor, Vanessa & Monty team up again, exploring the dilapidated streets of the Slums, currently taken over by the Vikers, a dangerous gang. This isn’t a regular collection job, as it seems this debtor managed to pawn his soul to two powerful demons, so there is a conflict brewing over it. Vanessa and Monty need to stay on their toes, as another Demon + Hellhound duo is on the trail of the target and it seems both duos are on a collision course.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The zero issue of Obey Me was a simple and kind of fun book based on the game of the same name. Mario Mentasti kept it moving well and I liked the fluidity and dynamic aspects of Ben Herrera’s artwork. The first formal issue is pretty much more of the same overall but it’s going into the actual storyline as opposed to a standalone piece. That means things feel a bit more decompressed than I would have cared for with a lot of padding early on in just moving about and getting it all underway. I like the look of it and the color design but something about the way the dialogue flowed just didn’t click for me with how it was spaced out through what felt like too many panels.
The opening salvo here has Monty being assigned more formally to Vanessa with him now set to live with her, which is going to be a problem. She’s not keen on it and doesn’t want him on the bed and he’s frustrated because even though he looks like a dog he’s not actually one and is tired of being treated that way. With orders from above, there’s not much she can do and that means it’s just getting on with the job. This one is a bit more interesting to her than the usual dealing with getting a soul from a debtor as it is just that but it’s a competition with her boss’s sister, Belphegor, who has a claim on the soul as well. She’s sent Rory and Rufus to go after the soul and there’s a bit of honor at stake with it as Vanessa’s boss won’t take kindly to losing to his sister. It’s a small wrinkle of a challenge but one that gets Vanessa on board for it.
The first half of the book moves with a lot of material as Vanessa gets ready – thankfully showering off-panel – as it sets the dynamic for the two, which continues while in transit. When we do get to the action, as Rory and Rufus beat them to the debtor, we get some pretty good material. Monty shines at first with the tracking before being knocked out of the action for a bit which allows the focus to shift to Vanessa. There’s a lot of fun to it in a classic video game sense as she’s got the style and flair to pull it off but has to grapple with opponents that are more powered up than they expected and are intent on killing them, which wasn’t in the original plan. There are a few back and forth moments here but it mostly serves to showcase how Vanessa and Monty will figure into their own pattern of working together while making clear that there are some bad times ahead.
In Summary:
Obey Me has a kind of light and fluid feeling about it where I’m enjoying it and hoping there’s a little more beyond the superficial here. The basic setup is workable enough even without knowing the game and there’s some fun with Vanessa, even if “tsk” is used too much as it’s pretty noticeable. The opening pages feel a little more spread out than they need to be but the action pages work well. Herrera’s artwork is pretty fun and I like how the color work for the book from Emanuel Ordaz Torres gives it a lot of pop and vibrancy, though again, those opening pages just feel a little too brown with all the background/stuff.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 17+
Released By: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: April 3rd, 2019
MSRP: $3.99
