Death-Defying 'Devil #3 - Dynamite Entertainment

DEATH-DEFYING 'DEVIL No. 3, October 2019

Despite Gail Simone’s utterly bizarre belief that fans of this comic’s titular character from the Forties would enjoy an ‘anything can happen with the next twenty-two pages” nonsensical narrative, the Oregon-born writer’s storyline for Issue Three of “The Death-Defying Devil” actually contains a pretty compelling adventure which disconcertingly deals with the issues faced by an elderly super-hero who can no longer even walk without the aid of a Zimmer frame, let alone dispatch his foes with his infamous razor edged boomerangs. Indeed, if the American author had simply ditched the idea that all the elder abuse depicted within this book was actually caused by the machinations of a daemonic entity determined to steal the souls of an apartment block’s tenants, and instead solely focus upon the caregivers preying upon their vulnerable patients just to bolster their own self-importance, then this book would arguably have been all the more impactive.

As it stands however, an aged Bart Hill’s desperate battle to evade the brutal clutches of Freddy and Derek is somewhat lessened by the World War Two veteran’s persistent trips to an inter-dimensional place and discomfiting conversations with a little girl wearing a toy unicorn horn on her head; “But you really don’t belong in this time… You defied the calendar. You defied life and death.” True, the young child provides the white-haired, somewhat frail Daredevil with the solution to all his problems within the Winslow Convalescent Home, by restoring the man’s youth and re-arming him with a pair of “two-pound stainless steel ball bearing Frisbees.” But seeing as how the geriatric had already managed to batter both his attackers with a vicious blow to the face using his walking frame, as well as a jaw-dropping punch to the nether regions, it would have been far more interesting to see Jack Binder’s co-creation succeed via his own merits rather than relying upon a supernatural solution.

Perhaps this comic’s biggest positive takeaway is therefore the artwork of Walter Geovani, who manages to somehow etch the horror of his helplessness upon Hill’s face the moment he wakes up to discover he’s become an enfeebled shadow of his former crime-fighting self. The Brazilian artist does an incredible job of pencilling the physical menace Derek exudes whenever he threatens the patients, and any perusing bibliophile can surely hear the crack of bones when Bart quickly decides enough is enough and begins mercilessly brutalising his shocked would-be assailants.

The regular cover art of "DEATH-DEFYING 'DEVIL" No. 3 by Inhyuk Lee