Planet Of Daemons #2 - Amigo Comics

PLANET OF DAEMONS No. 2, December 2016

Absolutely packed full of all the puritanical persecutions its fans probably anticipated from a mini-series partially based upon Seventeenth Century New England, Kevin Gunstone’s screenplay for Issue Two of “Planet Of Daemons” must have kept many within its audience thoroughly riveted to their reading chairs with its fascinating mixture of "mystery, intrigue, and dark sorcery." For whilst the twenty-four page periodical somewhat lacks in pulse-pounding action, especially once Amos Deathridge has wisely fled “the forsaken Palace of Lilith” following its partial destruction at the hands of a pair of Eligos’ winged emissaries, the reason behind just why the former Puritan magistrate now “serves as jailer of the daemons and evil spirits who cast their sinister influence over mankind” proves an utterly enthralling narrative.

Indeed, this slowly unfolding tale of the god-fearing man’s harrowing fate on Earth, courtesy of a foul deception “by those closest and dearest” to him, becomes particularly compelling once the esteemed “man of experience and wisdom” starts to doubt the chasteness of any town resident who even so much as dares to ask a question of him, and simply has them arrested. Such an oppressive atmosphere of disquiet and suspicion is genuinely palpable, and resultantly it comes as no surprise when Amos’ conspiratorial wife seemingly uncovers a treachery beyond the mortal realm being committed by one of his closest friends; “I saw Silas pray to the evil spirits of beyond. His call was answered by a succubus called Nehema.”

Of course, that isn’t to say that the main protagonist’s pursuit of a daemon of war on the world of Sathariel, prodigiously pencilled by Paul Moore, isn’t equally as absorbing. Deathridge’s discovery of the nude Heinous and her subsequent rescue from a collapsing royal residence provides the lone traveller with a much-needed companion, as well as an opportunity to illuminate this book’s audience with more insights into his tragic backstory, even when it is made abundantly clear straight from the start that “this was an act I would live to regret…” In fact, by the time the past justice of the peace has witnessed the disturbingly bizarre demise of a trio of daemonic concealers, who stalk “doomed souls trapped in the maze”, he has acquired a second intriguing acquaintance in the guise of the “misplaced soul” Salis and unknowingly already entered the Labyrinth within which resides the fortress of Count Eligos.

Writer: Kevin Gunstone, Art: Paul Moore, and Colour: Stefan Mrkonjic