Sacred Creatures Issue 4 - Review

 

Lust for life

Written by: Pablo Raimondi & Klaus Janson
Art by: Klaus Jansen (Ancient scenes) and
            Pablo Raimondi (Contemporary scenes)
Letters by: Clem Robins
Publisher: Image
Reviewed by: Andrew McAvoy

Anyone who has followed this series to date will know that it mixes deep themes of religion and spirituality with a very black sense of humor. So far we have seen how the Nephilims (human embodiment of the 7 Deadly Sins) have plotted the downfall of Naviel their keeper on Earth. They have used Josh Miller, controlling him to lay the fatal blow to Naviel, before her son Adrian can stop the slaying. Now Adrian is doing his utmost to protect Josh, as well as his wife and just born baby, as well as his hostile mother-in-law, from the Nephilims.

This issue steps things up a notch as we see Lust (aka Sophia - see cover above) dispatched to the maternity ward by Envy (aka Lucius Hamilton) to retrieve Josh's new born baby from the Hospital. Given that Lust's skill set consists of making people lust after one another, she wreaks havoc within the Hospital and soon enough the hospital waiting room is very active. She targets the desires of the Hospital staff and visitors on Adrian as he attempts to stop her from stealing Josh's baby. Josh's wife and mother-in-law lend a hand and by the end of the book, despite an encounter with Sloth the baby guarded by her grandmother outside the hospital is just about safe, as are Josh (on the run), and his wife and Adrian (still inside the hospital).

The issue alternates between this contemporary action and the ancient backstory of the slain Naviel. In that story we are given more detail on the role of Naviel, the loss of her true love Ahadiel, her eternal role as the keeper of the 7 deadly sins, and finally her relationship with Nimrod who she takes as lover - a proxy for Ahadiel - and to whom a child is conceived.

The contrast between Klaus Jansen's art used for these ancient backstories, and Pablo Raimondi's art in the contemporary New York setting helps the reader switch between the two types of stories. The techniques employed by both artists, such as photo-realistic backgrounds behind the focus of the frame, are similar however and this helps ensure a cohesiveness to the split artistic duties which is often lacking in books with multiple artists.

Bits and pieces:

Sacred Creatures continues to weave a detailed and interesting story backed up by high grade art work. It is a dollar more than some other Image titles (its priced at $4.99) but as with other issues you feel like you are getting a high volume and quality of output in return. There was a black humor to this particular issue, particularly in the naked lustful army of Hospital inhabitants chasing after Adrian to facilitate Lust's capture of Josh's newborn. The issue leaves us with many questions remaining - how was Adrian born? Why does Envy want Josh and his child? What is the remainder of Naviel's backstory? In short this issue satisfies the reader, but also is used to pique our interest for the next installment.

7.5/10