Review: Kiss: The Demon #1
An interesting little tale. It begins with Mr. Blackwell as an old man who is near death. He begins to reminisce about better days. We see him as a young man, Sam, who is an ardent Kiss fan. He meets up with some friends and they go to a Kiss concert, then they form their own band. Sam’s father doesn’t like what his son is doing and the direction he’s going in life. He finds Sam to be immature and wants him to focus on the family business. I can relate a bit to Sam as my family didn’t dig the idea of me listening to Kiss, or reading comic books well into my teens, a great first issue.
The Creative Team:
Amy Chu has struck comic book gold with this one. Any Kiss fan can relate to what Sam is going through in this issue. You can see that he has a passion for the music and that he doesn’t let his father’s negative attitude affect that passion. Sam may go a little to far in wishing that his father was dead, but we can see how the young man would be angered when his father breaks up of his band. The emotions are raw and the tension is thick and gets thicker through to the climax of this issue, a great read.
Eman Cassalos is a great artist for this title as we see Sam’s frustration grow. His Kiss characters are way over the top and muscular to a point where they look like “The Expendables” in makeup. It may seem like a bit much since the real Kiss were never that muscular, but we have to remember that in comics these guys are superhero’s and we want them to look the part. His Splash page is awesome and he captures the feeling of being at a Kiss concert even more so than the Marvel Super Special #2 that featured Kiss back in 1980. Cassalos brings this band to vivid life in the pages of this comic book.
The Cover:
What more could a Kiss fan and a Gene Simmons fan ask for? the Demon with a Joker like smile, his long tongue wagging in the wind. He’s making the symbol for Rock music with both hands. the background is a hellish yellow and it looks like he’s about to leap off the page and start playing bass guitar right in your living room.
In Conclusion:
I was thoroughly pleased with issue number one. Although the only time we see Gene is when the band is playing on stage, his presence permeates this torrid tale of family dysfunction. Sam Blackwell is an excellent character and seems to be developing into something of an Ebenezer Scrooge. He’s incredibly wealthy but has led a hard life and doesn’t seem to appreciate or care about the family fortune. It will be interesting to see how the Demon plays into his life in the next issue.
Kiss: The Demon #1
Writer: Amy Chu; Erik Burnham
Art: Eman Casallos
Letters: Troy Peteri
Colors: Omi Remalante
Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment
Publication Date: January 2017
About the Author
Kevin Given Kevin Given has studied with "Longridge Writers Group" and "Writer's Boot Camp" a speech/communications major from the University of Maine Presque-Isle/Orono sites. He has created the "Karl Vincent Vampire Hunter" franchise which includes 2 novels and 8 comic books. They can be found on amazon, Indyplanet and Kindle. For a limited time you can get digital copies of "Karl Vincent: Vampire hunter" #1 and "Files of Karl Vincent" #1 for free on Indyplanet. Kevin is producing the third novel in the series "Dracula Rising" (working title) and developing "Foul Blood" into comic book form.
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