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While playing with his food in 1938 Germany, Violator gets a surprise visit from Lucifer Morningstar. After exchanging blows, Lucifer takes Violator on a tour of Hell. As they descend into the graphic 9 circles and take a ride on the river Styx, Lucifer has a proposition for Baziel. It’s “Deal or No Deal” in this weeks issue of Violator Origin!
- Written by Marc Andreyko
- Art by Kevin Maguire & Ben Templesmith
- Colors by Rosemary Cheetham
- Letters by AndWorld Design
- Creative Director Todd McFarlane
- Editor in Chief Thomas Healy
Violator Origin Makes a Stop in Nazi Occupied Germany
Violator continues his journey through history as he becomes the monster we know today. This time we stop the bus in 1938 Germany at Club Absinthe! This watering hole features debauchery of all kinds, including Violators own personal buffet of nasty humans. Wearing the skin of a butler he guides a character in first person to the “backroom” where he shows off his recent handiwork with some Nazi’s and adds one more to the list!
Lucifer Just Has to Ruin the Fun
That’s just the beginning. After Violator’s snack, Lucifer Morningstar appears and it is, as the kids say, “On Sight”. The transform into their hulking demonic forms and beat each other down. Lucifer turns the tide by transporting them both to Hell. It’s here that Lucifer’s ultimate goal is revealed. We get a tour of the 9 circles of Hell as Morningstar describes them and offers some philosophy to Violator. In the end, this was all for show to invite Violator to be Lucifer’s second in command. That goes about as well as you would think and someone from Baziel’s past makes a big appearance.
Violator Origin Takes Us on a Philosophical Journey
Marc Andreyko continues to explore what makes Violator tick. He’s been through so many time periods and we’re closer than ever to the present. I can tell he had a little fun playing with the Nazi’s in this issue. Violator is as ruthless no matter your political affiliation, but he does have time to crack some jokes at the Reich’s expense.
Violator Origin issue #4 review is here!
As interesting as the historical stop may be, it’s Violator’s history with hell and his relationship with Lucifer that is at the heart of this issue. We get a lot of Lucifer waxing poetic about The Creators hypocrisy and cruelty. Every circle of Hell brings us another point to be made as to why Lucifer believes that The Creator is no better than him. I especially love the point that all of these ways to torture is modeled after human ideas of Hell. Andreyko understands The Deceiver Morningstar so well.
Violator Origins is Still Metal AF
Kevin Macguire handles pencils in this issue, and the horror vibe doesn’t miss a step! Blood, gore, body horror, images of torture is Hell…it all brings a feeling of METAL to the issue. The images of the Circles of Hell are aided by Ben Templesmith and they don’t disappoint.
The colors by Rosemary Cheetham are very rich and vibrant. They take the core to the next level! There’s some beautiful lighting techniques present in the fight between Violator and Lucifer. AndWorld Design adds some terror in the form of screams and brutal sound effects.
Overall Grade: 7.5/10
I’m not gonna lie, Lucifer was making some strong points. The opening act was fun and campy. The fight with Lucifer was big and intense. The descent into Hell was beautiful and horrific at the same time. There’s a lot of good in this issue, but ultimately felt like a filler episode. Lucifer’s monologue, however awesome, still drags down the pacing a bit. This issue was good enough and I’m still enthralled in the series overall.