Judas Complex is a comic written by Son M. with art by Dri Gomez. A former college football player works as an investigator after a tragedy changed his life. This is a supernatural mystery comic with two leads and a dramatic story. The first man we meet is Desmond, he is a very tired and anxious person who has nightmares about his past and is annoyed by his boss’ antics. Constantine is the man that runs the place and he is a calm, cool, and collected person who rarely lets the situation at hand affect him. Also playing a significant role is Erica, a grad student at SADU. The story begins with a look at Desmond back when he was on the football team as they get ready to play in the last game of the season. Just as they are about to leave the locker room one of his friends suggest they use some medicinal “help” in this game. This story takes place in a world like ours but with supernatural creatures like vampires and werewolves. The action here is bloody and gory with more than a few gruesome moments. The pacing is a bit fast but it builds up the suspense and it maintains a serious tone. There is an uneasy air throughout and the intensity spikes for dangerous and emotional reasons. The dialogue is primarily conversational with the occasional peek inside their heads. There are no word-heavy pages here. This is a comic that blends mystery and the supernatural with emotional storytelling and gives us two leads who are trying their hardest to find answers.
The art here will remind you of some high quality Western webcomics with some great lighting and shading. The color range here is realistic with a nice variety on most pages. We see some grass and trees on a college campus but that’s about it for scenery here as most of this story takes place in or right outside buildings. The main location for this story is the office where Constantine and Desmond work but other places they’ll visit are a football field, a lab, apartments, and a port. The backgrounds are about a 70-30 split between showing the surrounding scene or being a color gradient. The expression level here is around average as these two main characters like to hold in their emotions. The range of looks go from anxious and fearful to shock and anger, with a decent amount in between. The faces have strong detailing like different levels of blush on the cheeks and nose and a particular focus on the eyes; overall these help make every expression crystal clear. The violence here gets bloody and gory and is usually a result of physical combat. The action scenes can throw you off slightly on occasion but they generally flow well.
“Is this worth reading?”
Yes.
“Would I like this?”
If you like supernatural mystery stories with science fiction elements starring two guys and featuring werewolves, vampires, gory violence, and drama then this is for you.
“What would this comic’s film rating be?”
R. Gore, violence.
“Could I get a quote from the comic?”
“And if I remember something, it matters.”
Physical Link: https://dauntlessstories.com/jc-store/judas-complex-misprint-hardcover
Digital Link: https://dauntlessstories.com/jc-store/judas-complex-digital-edition-1
***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***
Probably Contains Spoilers
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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 74
Violent Pages: 9, for 12% of the comic
Sexy Pages: 0, for 0% of the comic
**The levels below aren’t necessarily maintained throughout the whole comic, but they were definitely reached**
Violence Level – 3
“Wasn’t no tussling at all.”
“Sometimes you gotta hit somebody.”
“I’m getting charged with how many counts of assault?”
“This was a tournament arc.”
“All my life I had to fight.”
Gore Level – 5
“The only thing leaking out your face is tears.”
“Looks like somebody spilled some ketchup.”
“Might need to soak that up with a bath towel.”
“That isn’t supposed to be outside the body.”
“This is a slaughterhouse.”
Death Level – 4
“And everybody lived happily ever after.”
“We might have gone to a couple funerals.”
“It just LOOKS like a serial killer was here.”
“Yeah this was a tragedy.”
“Think Gettysburg.”
Porn Level – 1
“Everybody kept their clothes on.”
“I guess it was too hot for a bra.”
“Sometimes you got to let everything air out.”
“This is like late night Cinemax in the early 2000’s.”
“Oh. This is porn.”
