Devil On My Shoulder #1 is about as dark and disturbing as it gets.
Published by Dark Horse Comics, Devil On My Shoulder is a 4-issue series from the creators of Where Monsters Lie: Kyle Starks (Those Not Afraid) and Piotr Kowalski (Let This One Be a Devil). The creative team is completed by It’s a chilling revenge horror.
Issue #1 is about as brutal and disturbing as a comic book can get. I mean, there’s even a warning on page one, telling readers that the comic contains violence against women and abuse. I was thankful that a warning was placed at the beginning. You don’t always see them, and it helped me prepare for the visceral content it contained.
Devil On My Shoulder follows a young woman. When her boss asks her to stay late in her retail job, she reluctantly obliges. Left on her own, she locks up and leaves late at night, where she encounters a group of boys who attack and abduct her. They keep her locked in a barn, which they call Hell, and torture her for over forty days. After being presumed dead, they throw her body into the sea… but she washes up alive, and very much ready to seek revenge.
This issue is utterly disturbing and chilling. It doesn’t rely on any sort of fantastical elements for horror, but the cruel deeds of humanity. There’s something raw and real about this, and that’s what makes it so terrifying — and difficult to read. From the heartbreaking internal monologues, to the visceral and brutal artwork, it comes at you from all angles. It beats you down and keeps throwing punches.
However, there’s no doubt that the cruelness inflicted on our protagonist will be reflected in her revenge. The comic even tells you that her revenge will be so much worse. It wants you to know. It wants you to come back and see how she enacts her revenge. No doubt it’ll be served cold.
I can imagine this issue will be hard for some readers to stomach, which is perfectly understandable. But it is an extremely powerful start. Both Starks and Kowalski have crafted a comic that’ll stick with you long after you put it down.
Starks and Kowalski have already made waves in the world of horror comics, and this is perhaps their most chilling entry yet.
Get your copy of Devil On My Shoulder #1 here.
