The Conjuring: The Lover is reaching its end and its fourth and penultimate instalment puts main character Jessica in the worst possible spot for the devil to do his dirty work. I use ‘devil’ here metaphorically as the comic does have an actual living agent of evil that’s orchestrating the haunting of Jessica’s life and turning her into a tragic victim of satanic power. Watching the third movie of The Conjuring universe, subtitled “The Devil Made Me Do It,” sheds more light on this, making this a great prologue/companion piece to it.

Writers David L. Johnson-McGoldrick and Rex Ogle along with Garry Brown on art have already crafted an oppressive and dread-filled environment for Jessica to traverse in, and not to her benefit. Her college life hangs in the balance and last issue’s cliffhangers will seal the deal on that front. If The Lover can be boiled down to a fight for Jessica’s soul, this issue sets up the knockout punch.

The evil that’s operating behind the scenes is making its biggest moves here and all roads lead to oblivion. It makes for a tough read as the main character is basically being tortured at an existential level with no hope of things getting better in sight. This doesn’t mean the story is banking on pain for the sake of it, but I’m curious to see what all this emotional suffering is leading up to in the coming final issue.

The Lover #4’s faux horror ads are still a highlight, this time bringing in some familiar demons into the ghoulish fun. It pays off to be a fan of the Conjuring universe here. There’s a lot to look through and artist Dave Johnson looks like he’s thoroughly enjoying putting them together along with Johnson-McGoldrick, who writes the ads.

This entry’s back-up story, from the Warren’s haunted artifact room, comes courtesy of Ray Fawkes and Christopher Mitten and it puts the spotlight square on the strange music box from the first Conjuring movie. It’s a quick but fierce punch of a story that manages to pull as much horror from the music box as possible. The setup is instantly identifiable, but it adds different levels to its mystery to make it a darkly profound story that aims to deceive.

The Conjuring: The Lover has managed to maintain a formidable degree of terror throughout the series and it looks like the finale will leave an impression, or a bloody handprint, once it closes shop. We might need to get used to the idea that sometimes evil can have its way and that we are powerless to stop it. Scary thought, huh.

Story: David L. Johnson-McGoldrick and Rex Ogle, Art: Garry Brown
Colors: Mike Spicer, Letterer: Becca Carey
Story: 9.0 Art: 9.0 Overall: 9.0 Recommendation: Read with a bottle of holy water nearby

DC Comics provided Graphic Policy with a free copy for review.

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