Deliver Us From Evil #3 - Blood Moon Comics

DELIVER US FROM EVIL No. 3, July 2024

Absolutely crammed full of mind-blowing changes to the planet’s time continuum, and a genuinely palpable sense of the supernatural, Peter Breau’s script for Issue Three of “Deliver Us From Evil” is also one twenty-page periodical which is most definitely worth multiple reads in order to get the best out of its narrative. However, rather than this ‘requirement’ be perceived by comic book critics as a complaint, in this particular publication’s case the condition is entirely complimentary, with the “distinguished” writer’s storyline proving increasingly dark and disconcertingly disturbing the more familiar a bibliophile becomes with it; “Time is like the secret Fourth Dimension!”

Foremost of these shadowy evils has to be the sinister hooded cult which seem to stalk antiquity like unseen assassins, and protect some of the most notorious historical figures in recorded history – such as one of the original Twelve Apostles, Judas Iscariot. Their presence throughout this perturbing tome simply can’t be overstated, as their actions appear to malignantly transform the modern day for the poorer, even when there’s no physical sign of the robed radicals themselves.

In addition, the mystery surrounding central protagonists Lazar and Silent Violet is only heightened by the appearance of two agent of the Obsidian Veritatis Dominion. Largely penned as simple observers to all this comic’s unholy manifestations and utterly alarming chronological retcons, the two politely spoken Inquisitors make it crystal clear to the audience that all is doom and gloom for Mankind unless the heroes somehow manage to thwart whatever head-spinning machinations are taking place. But cleverly, it is yet to be revealed just how the smart-mouthed Brother Lazar and his Nun friend are going to even achieve this, and therein lies this book’s biggest hook.

Of course, little of this rather complicated plot would probably make all that much sense without some absolutely stellar pencilling by Mattia Doghini. The illustrator’s decision to depict events in plain black and white really helps focus the eyes upon each exquisitely sketched panel or wonderfully imaginative splash page, and makes adrenalin-fuelled action sequences like Captain Barnhill’s hideously-doomed assault upon a mountain fortress in Nazi-occupied Poland during the Second World War, well worth this title’s cover price alone.

Writer: Peter Breau, Artist: Mattia Doghini, and Letterer: Christopher Bousquet