Writer: Gus Moreno
Artist & Colorist: Jakub Rebelka
Letterer: Becca Carey
Cover Artists: Jakub Rebelka, Jacob Phillips, & Dani with Tamra Bonvillain
Publisher: Boom! Studios
Price: $4.99
Release Date: February 5, 2025
When a baptism goes wrong, Father Manuel Barrera lands in jail. Cardinal Glaunton visits the incarcerated priest. The Cardinal suggests Father Barrera atone for his crime by serving others. Then, he visits the hospital to talk with a trusted colleague.
Haunted by his failure with Father Varden, Father Stygian isn’t anxious to take on another apprentice. But the exorcist would rather bury himself in work than follow the doctor's orders. Besides, he refuses to lay in bed for weeks while recovering from his recent exorcism. Is Cardinal Glaunton right about Father Barrera and Father Stygian? Can they help each other while battling supernatural foes? Let’s grab our crucifixes, leap into When I Lay My Vengeance Upon Thee #2, and find out!
Story
It snowed the day Father Barrera reached Puerto Cristino. The priest wonders if Argentina or Chile claims the island. Father Stygian tells him it doesn't matter. They may not need to bundle up like in Antarctica, but a coldness creeps into the soul on this remote South American island. Father Barrera tries to drown his sorrows in wine. When Father Stygian stares at the tree behind the rectory, he sees Father Varden hanging there.
The priests aren't the only ones suffering in When I Lay My Vengeance Upon Thee #2. Maru looks after the priests' needs. She went to live with her brother after her house burned down. Then, her nephew grew ill. Maru asks Father Stygian to visit Alex. But when Father Stygian takes his new apprentice to Ernesto’s farm, the priests find Maru's brother spilling blood.
While Father Barrera tries to comfort the dying boy, Father Stygian maintains a professional distance. When the boy points to a supernatural source for his malady, Father Stygian wants to dismiss it. He knows that most suspected cases of exorcism are mental illness. He doesn't want to throw Barrera in an exorcism so soon. But in Gus Moreno’s story, Maru believes something extraordinary is occurring. And Ernesto blames Father Stygian for his son's demon possession.
Art
Father Stygian walks with a cane and drives a stately sedan. His trench coat and wide-brim hat evoke an investigator more than a priest. As they drive, he and Father Barrera regard each other from the corners of their eyes. Then, their eyes bulge at a reflection on the driver's side window.
Despite her turtleneck sweater, Maru crosses her arms. She keeps her left arm against her chest while shaking Father Barrera’s hand. Yet the day she saw the dead return to life in When I Lay My Vengeance Upon Thee #2, Maru's arms hung loose. And she wore a wide-brim hat, a scarf, and a trench coat like Father Stygian.
Jakub Rebelka applies a limited palette to panels that evoke historic oil paintings. Gray and red saturate fields during daylight. Blue, red, and white swirl and combine like paint in a fish tank. The eye-catching swirls invade Alex’s room when Father Barrera and Father Stygian visit. Yet, in Maru's memory, yellows and browns overwhelm the dramatic landscape and flowing clouds.
Becca Carey fills white dialogue balloons and color-edged narrative boxes with black uppercase letters. Demons speak with a haunting font and scream with large, white letters. The dialogue never shrinks in When I Lay My Vengeance Upon Thee #2. It grows bold and swells when danger threatens. Yet faint red letters deepen Father Stygian’s unease. Thanks to Boom! Studios for providing a copy for review.
Final Thoughts
Instead of taking Father Barrera's confession, Father Stygian warns him to let go of his past lest the demons use it against him. Father Stygian knows Barrera isn't ready to conduct an exorcism in When I Lay My Vengeance Upon Thee #2. But when demons invade his remote island, the exorcist cannot shield his apprentice from this supernatural virus.
Rating 9.4/10
For more cover art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.
For a look inside check out Boom! Studios' First Look.
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