2 out of 5

You know a horror comic book writer I really like? El Torres. I see El Torres’ name on a book, and I’m buying it, sight unseen. Yeah, Cullen Bunn’s name came first on Lucky Devil, but without digging into the details, because I’m really smart, I assumed maybe Torres was writing a backup or somesuch.

He’s… not. Torres letters Lucky Devil, a vocation which (I think?) is a newer undertaking for the writer, and now I’m seeing his name popup as letterer elsewhere. Which means I’m reading a book wholly scripted by Cullen Bunn, who is also a horror writer, and not one I dislike by any means, but the prodigiousness of Bunn’s output does, to me, factor into the writing quality: I tend to feel like many of Cullen’s mini-series are written somewhat on instinct, starting with the seed of an idea and then hashing out the remaining story quickly. And Lucky Devil is pretty thin on its hook as-is – Stanley is possessed by a devil, but then gets an exorcism which half works, leaving him unpossessed but still devil-powered – meaning the tale that’s left to tell hardly can fill up an issue, let alone four.

The “comedy” – satanists being snide to one another – feels a bit phoned in, and I can’t even really figure out what the focus of this was, as there’s a kernel of an idea of getting us to follow who is ostensibly a very bad fellow, but Bunn doesn’t push that agenda one way or another (Stanley’s neither very good or evil), and the minimal jabs at consumer culture and the sway of religion (even if it’s devil worship in this case) feel equally phoned in. Whatever character drama was possible is further avoided when things turn into a cat-and-mouse with some other devils sicced on Stanley for usurping with power that doesn’t “belong” to him, a story thread which approximately goes nowhere, because there’s nowhere for it to go; see again the lacking point of the book.

The saving grace here, really, is artist Fran Galán. Fran’s stylized characters and comical but creepy creature designs act and emote well, and each page is laid out with dynamic but clean design. The colors – a somewhat painted touch, favoring reds and oranges – are also quite fantastic, finding a good tonal balance between the underlying kooky comedy vibe of the book, but with notes of the dangers of abused power. And I should rewind to state that Bunn’s skill, given the amount of output, is that it’s rarely bad or boring to read – it just has a very streamlined vibe that doesn’t often offer much depth, and, in this case, when the basic premise doesn’t seem to suggest much exploration, the books are barely distracting. They’re… serviceable.

The trade includes some process sketches from Fran.

Torres’ letters work really well with the art, for what it’s worth – not necessarily an easy task given Fran’s expressive style.