Stjepan Šejić continues to blend fantasy, magic and comedy in “Death Vigil” #3 a.k.a. The best comic you’re not reading.
Written and illustrated Stjepan Šejić
Training day in Death Vigil! You get a magical weapon with no instruction manual and an unholy abomination from beyond the sane universe is advancing. What do you do? Helps to have an immortal and powerful dinosaur-transforming raven by your side.
“Death Vigil” is truly an underrated gem. Writer/artist Stjepan Šejić is creating something really special in this series that appeals to not only fantasy fans but comic fans in general. It’s one of those genre books that has widespread appeal because at its core, there’s a great story.
“Death Vigil” #3 continues the story of brand new vigil Clara. When we last saw her she was making herself at home with the other vigils and discovered what her ‘veilripper’ was; she has a magical, feathery pen which allows her to make “doodles”. She learns that no one can train her and that she has to learn how to harness her own power herself. Šejić wastes no time getting us to that point as Sam gets a call signifying that one of his markers has been triggered, and Clara instantly volunteers to go because she needs to feel like she matters to this group. She needs to feel like she’s “pulling her own weight”. What follows is a truly epic dark magic showdown.
There’s very little to dislike about “Death Vigil” #3. Šejić may actually be using magic when he creates this book every month; from dialogue to coloring, this book is excellent. I only knew of his art before this series, so I had no idea he could write dialogue that was this sharp and witty. This book is genuinely funny, this issue more than any other as much of the introduction is out of the way. The humor comes not from cheap sight gags but from the natural interaction between the characters. They aren’t buffoons or clowns. Sam and Clara have this blend of snarky confidence that makes them come off completely likable because it’s how we sound every day.
I like to think of “Death Vigil” as realistic fantasy. The very best fantasy stories tap into real human behavior and feelings. You see this in everything, from “Harry Potter” to the “A Song of Fire and Ice” series; fantasy takes real human behavior and translates it into much bigger and more fantastical ideas. That is exactly what “Death Vigil” does and has done for the last two issues. Despite all the dark magic and dangerous creatures, there’s this relatable factor to the characters — particularly with Clara.
Clara in this issue is us. She gets to go out and fight bad guys with her newly acquired powers. Her powers as we see (no spoilers, I promise) go to a deeply personal place; as she fights with Lana we see her tap into something much more private and emotional. This smaller subplot along with Clara saying goodbye to her human life bring us in to the story in a personal way. How would we react to this situation? Would we have even taken the offer Bernie made Clara?
Sam and Bernie also relate back to the realistic fantasy, but in a different sense. They are characters that have been in this world of magic and chaos for a long time, but in a hysterical panel, Bernie still has a human side; she still enjoys things like pop music and terrible puns. And Sam, despite his appearance and strong powers, is just like any normal guy — the twist in all of this obviously being that they are all immortal beings that wield magic. These character moments are what Šejić excels at in “Death Vigil” #3 and what I believe is what will continue to bring readers back month after month to see how this all ends.
As I mentioned earlier, I know Šejić’s artwork very well, particularly his work on “Witchblade”. His style is pure fantasy. There’s this clever uniformity of the vigils yet they retain so much of their own characteristics; they all have the same hair and are in very good physical condition but it’s their facial expressions and body language that really stand out, even the background characters we haven’t met yet.
Continued belowWhere Šejić really shines is in the execution of the magic and the necromancers. Through vivid colors and wholly unique designs, he creates these panels that you don’t see in any other comic being published. He introduces a new character with a very cool ability that most artists would have trouble creating. Šejić does it and makes it look easy! It almost jumps off the page. I found myself lingering on certain pages just to look at the art.
“Death Vigil” #3 really only lacks in one area, and that is by this point we still don’t have a great grasp on the villains. We know there is a group out to destroy the vigils but we don’t know their plan or even who they are. By no means are we going to feel compelled to root for them because our heroes are so likable, but it would be nice to understand them a bit more. It would flesh out the story even better.
“Death Vigil” should be on many best of lists at the end of the year. Comics are starting to become more and more full of fantasy books like “Rat Queens” and the upcoming “Dungeons & Dragons” series from IDW, but “Death Vigil” is really something all on its own. It’s the perfect book to get introduced to the genre with.
Final Verdict: 8.8 – Buy this and the previous two issues. It’s easily one of the best new series of the year.
