Victory #1 // Review
Three demons are driving a monster truck. One of them wears suspenders. One of them wears a wife beater. One of them is wearing a black T-shirt. They’re all chasing the same cab. They’re all looking to get the woman driving the taxi. They’re going to get more than they’re expecting in Victory #1. Writer David Walker opens up a series featuring the character drawn from the pages of Vampirella. The woman in question is drawn to the page by Brett Weldele, who also handles the colors. The fast-moving opening chapter to Victory features some fast-paced comic action and some of the wittiest dialogue to hit the comics rack this month.
The three demons are after Victory, but they’re really more interested in her ring. Actually...it’s not really hers. It’s a demon ring that she can’t get rid of. The ring was a gift made to upset Vampirella--a vampire ex-girlfriend of Victory’s. (It’s...really complicated.) A trio of demons after her ring? That’s not that big a deal. The two entities from the Purgatory Unit? The angel and the demon? They’re going to be a bit of a problem. See: the fate of all known existence is in danger, and they want Victory’s help.
Walker’s wit takes advantage of a very resourceful sense of humor. The three demons could be chasing victory in anything...but a monster truck? There’s clever visual humor in that. The relationship between two entities looking to get Victory’s help could have been much more straightforward abstract entities. Walker gives each of them distinct personalities that add to the humor of the situation. Even the three demons who are after the ring have their own distinct identities. Characters that might have come across as flat plot devices take on their own lives, and they’re all distinctly interesting. It’s a fun ensemble of characters.
Weldele embraces a restless, rugged beauty in Victory that gives the first issue a solid central focal point. The other five main characters orbit around her in ways that feel visually dynamic. Weldele’s character design lends added personality to each of the three demons. He even manages to find ways to make the angel and the demon from the Purgatory Unit look like they might be interesting people to hang out with at a party. The action that Weldele commits to the page walks a clever line between cartoony slapstick and extremely sober realism. It’s a nice balance that Weldele works in the visual world of the series.
The first issue of the new series looks extremely promising. Walker has shown that he can work well with the character in her world while dealing with what could have been a very simple introduction meant to lead the hero into a new adventure. Walker pumps so much wit, charm, and swagger into the first issue. It’ll be interesting to see what he does with an issue that actually begins to render some of the series’ major plot points.
Grade: A+
