Lady Demon is the second of the Chaos Imprint titles to come to Dynamite.  The Chaos imprint is one which is based in the “Bad Girl” trend of the 1990s that gave rise to notable other characters, most of them female and most of them with some kind of supernatural power.  As this is the second title to come out under this guise, the first being Purgatori also written by Aaron Gillespie, it might be tempting to regard them as similar titles and to disregard this one as just a copycat to the previous.  While there are some similarities, ignoring this series for those reason would be a mistake.  While Purgatori has struggled to find its direction, this series hits the ground running.

Simple country girl Violet awakes by a country creek with her boyfriend to find out that something is wrong, namely that her boyfriend has been murdered violently right beside her where she slept.  As she soon learns it was not only him that dies but also that she died as well.  Her soul was drawn to Hell, not because of her having been evil, but because the titular character Lady Demon needed a vessel in which to hide.  What transpires is some revenge for Violet while Lady Demon gets to be herself.  While the underlying theme is not new, the gestalt living of two characters together in one body kind of is (similar to most versions of DC Comics’ Firestorm).  With Violet still in control of her body, but also not hesitant to let Lady Demon out, she becomes a force for good with a lot of evil in the mix.

The composite of the two characters together makes for a compelling story and concept.  While it’s not immediately evident where Violet with Lady Demon in tow is headed, it is also not entirely clear if Violet will end up on the side of the angels after all.  Although there is the habitual amount of gore in this series, it also is not overdone, and while there is also a heaping amount of violence, it too feels at place within this genre.  The issue leaves off with a good deal of momentum for the following issue.  This is not a great comic and probably never will be, but to whatever end it gets to, it looks like there is to be a fun reading experience along the way.

Story: Aaron Gillespie Art: Mirka Andolfo
Story: 8.3 Art: 8.3 Overall: 8.3 Recommendation: Read

Dynamite provided Graphic Policy with a free copy for review.