As you might recall, I’m friends with John Layman, so he’s nice enough to send me review copies of his work (I mean, I know he wants the publicity, too, but still), and he has a new series coming out this week, and I’ve read the first four issues, and now I’m going to write about them! Handy, isn’t it???? In Hell We Fight is written and lettered by Layman, with art by Jok and colors by both Jok and Mey. These fancy comics creators, using only one name, I tells ya. Let’s have a look!
It’s always hard for me to review Layman’s work, because I love it and fear I’m not being objective about it because he’s my friend. But whatever – I really liked In Hell We Fight! Layman just has a way of creating really interesting characters and making them relatable and sympathetic very quickly, so even though I’m not a teenage Yakuza assassin (as Midori is in this comic) or a kid who was murdered by a cursed axe (as Ernie was in this comic), they’re still very fascinating characters who feel real even after only a few pages. This process starts with Xander, which is where issue #1 begins, as a kid in the 19th century who hates frogs so much that he’s eventually drowned by a frog demon. It’s weird and askew and we learn very little about Xander’s life, but like most Layman books, we get some humor, some horror, and a memorable sketch of a character that sticks in our minds, so as we learn more about him, we’re already inclined to be interested in him. All of the characters are like that – Midori was adopted into a Yakuza clan by a dude who turned out to be possessed by a demon, and she didn’t like that at all; Ernie was murdered by a cursed axe that is stuck in his head (it reappears if he pulls it out, which comes in handy if someone – Midori – wants a lot of axes, because she has an unlimited supply); Balphie is a demon who just wants to hang out with the kids; and Angel (the angel’s name is Angel) got bored with Heaven and strayed too far from it looking for more interesting experiences. While Layman doesn’t dive too deeply into the personal lives of the characters in these four issues, just through their interactions and the plot mechanics (Angel was kidnapped and the kids decide to get her back to Heaven, but the demon that had her kidnapped doesn’t think that’s a good idea), we learn about them and how they relate to each other and some of their insecurities and strengths. Layman does this very well, and while the plot is pretty good – kids seek a small measure of redemption in Hell by doing a super-good deed – Layman’s strength lies in the character moments, because he has a good, weird sense of humor, he knows that dialogue doesn’t always simply lay out plot points but can reveal character, and he makes sure that even the awful people in his stories have personalities. Therefore, when one of the demon’s goons reports back to the demon about the group escaping, it’s more humorous than just a bad guy talking to another bad guy, because Layman knows that even demons can be quirky! The demon the kids visit to get information is a ventriloquist dummy, which is already a bit goofy, but the dude comes off as a funny old man … until he’s suddenly not, because Layman can turn humor to horror as well as anyone writing today. The kids are also just that – kids – so even though they’ve been in Hell for a long time (Xander, for instance, was killed in the 1870s), they haven’t really grown up, and Layman does a good job taking the insecurities of youth and weaponizing them, so they’re just a mess of doubts and unprocessed emotions and it makes them do stupid but understandable things and, presumably, they’ll eventually learn a little about how to deal with these things (if the series lasts, of course). It’s a very good adventure book, but Layman excels at characterization, and the book works because the characters are interesting.
Jok is an “Argentinian superstar,” according to the Image website, and he’s very good on this book, so I won’t argue! Layman always seem to work best with artists who have a slightly cartoony bent to them, as his offbeat style fits art that can get weird easily and flows well – on his creator-owned work for Image and IDW, he gets these artists who fit his sensibility very well, which is nifty. Jok creates some strange and horrific monsters – the demon that drowns Xander is our first look at one of them, and it’s ugly and menacing and terrifying but also slightly ridiculous, which feels like the vibe of a lot of Layman’s work – and his hellscapes are wonderfully detailed pages of icky background junk – jagged mountains and deserts, naturally, but also skeletons of impossible creatures strewn about and diseased flora and fauna all around. Jok’s not just a designer of creepy things, either, as his storytelling is quite good – when we visit Midori’s house in issue #2, he uses elongated “camera” angles and odd perspectives to make the house look alive (which it kind of is) and weirder than an average house, and the city the kids go to in issue #3 is a Furstian Renaissance nightmare. Obviously, in any comic, the artist has to do good stuff with the characters, and Jok does. The characters are all unique, and they look like they’re dead without being horrifying, which isn’t a bad trick. Xander has a aquamarine skin tone because he was drowned, and Jok makes his skin the slightest bit liquid, which is creepy but not completely off-putting, and makes him look vaguely sick all the time, which, as his “power” is to vomit up stuff he swallowed when he drowned (well, stuff he might have, because some things are from far after his time) that might be useful, it’s clever that he looks like he’s going to vomit a lot, because he hates it so much. Ernie has the sight gag of an axe permanently sticking out of his head, but Jok also makes sure that his eyes are a bit misaligned, as if someone cleaved his head open with an axe … because, you know, someone did. Balphie is the classic nerd who wants to hang out with the cool kids, and Jok gives him large, expressive eyes so he looks more innocent than a demon should, as he isn’t a terribly good demon (in that he’s not evil). It’s a really nice-looking comic, kinetically drawn and vibrantly colored, and it fits Layman’s tone very well.
So that’s my completely unbiased review of In Hell We Fight #1-4! You know it’s true! As Greg Hatcher used to point out, if he read something by someone he was friends with and didn’t like it, he simply wouldn’t write a long review, saying something like “It’s not for me” and leaving it at that. I think that’s a pretty good tack to take, and if I didn’t like In Hell We Fight, I just wouldn’t write about it. I mean, I know I’m probably inclined to like it anyway, but it did work quite nicely for me. Layman’s creator-owned series since Chew haven’t quite taken off like that did, and that’s too bad, because the dude is an excellent writer and his comics tend to be quite a bit different than what you usually get. Maybe this one will catch on? It won’t if it doesn’t sell, naturally, so head on over to your locall comicks shoppe this week to pick up a copy of issue #1. It won’t hurt you!
