City of Demons #1 is a comic written by Parker Newman with illustrations by Kingsley Ezeh. A man who fought in World War I goes through the motions as a detective. This is a crime drama with action on multiple fronts. The main man here is Lucas Short, six years after fighting in World War he’s managed to become a detective in Los Angeles. This story begins during the war with Lucas and his fellow troops running from dropping bombs. As he flees Lucas sees deaths and injured troops and he is forced to abandon one of his comrades. The violence is bloody with a bit of gruesomeness. Pacing here is a bit on the faster side with a conclusion that feels a bit premature. The tone here is like that of an era-fitting crime drama. There are multiple violently intense moments. The dialogue is direct with light back-and-forth and no word-heavy pages. This a debut issue that does a good job of setting the stage and throwing us into the action.

            The art here is a drawn in a detailed modern style with a bit of purposeful roughness. This is in black-and-white with focused lighting and shading. The only natural scenery here is the rough dirt terrain of a battlefield. There are three main locations here: a battlefield, the police station, and the city streets. Backgrounds here consistently show the actual surroundings. The expression level is a bit below average as hard looks are the norm after a certain point. We’ll see fear, shock, sadness, and slight happiness. The faces have an above-average amount of detail so the different expressions will usually be clear to read. Weapons used here are bombs and firearms. The violence is bloody with gruesome moments and light gore. The action scenes come in somewhat lengthy bursts with a high amount of panels and a flow that should be easy to follow.

“Is this worth reading?”

Yes, if this is up your alley.

“Would I like this?”

If you like crime dramas stories that star black detectives, one of them being a World War I veteran as well as featuring violence then this is for you.

“What would this comic’s film rating be?”

R. Violence, blood, gruesomeness, gore.

“Could I get a quote from the comic?”

“I’m sorry. I can’t help you.”

 

Physical Link: https://wiseacre.us/buy-comics/ols/products/city-of-demons-1p

Digital Link: https://wiseacre.us/buy-comics/ols/products/city-of-demons-1

Zoop Link: https://zoop.gg/c/city-of-demons-a-killer-stalks-the-mob-hollywood-hides-the-truth

***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***

Probably Contains Spoilers

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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 19

Violent Pages: 8, for 42% 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 – 4

“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 – 3

“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.”