Creators: Patrick Kindlon & Marco Ferrari
Writer: Patrick Kindlon
Artist: Maurizio Rosenzweig
Colorist: Matteo Vattani
Letterer: Jim Campbell
Designer: Matt Battaglia
Cover Artists: Maurizio Rosenzweig, Anand Ramcheron, Atsuji Yamamoto, Maria Llovet & Matteo Scalera
Publisher: Image Comics
Price: $3.99
Release Date: July 2, 2025
Once, she embraced life. Gehenna enjoyed love, belonged to someone, and looked forward to the future. Now, she dispenses judgment. What set Genhenna on the road to death and destruction? Why did she adopt a new name? Let's grab our guns, leap into Gehenna: Naked Aggression #1, and find out!
Story
Gehenna had a plan. She was supposed to kill a mob boss. Instead, she fights for her life. Gehenna scrambles with killers in the street, fighting hand-to-hand and shooting the gangsters trying to kill her. Looking for a way out, she grabs her target's son and heads inside. Gehenna needs help. Stephen doesn't seem surprised to get pulled into the eye of the storm. He has but one question. Why?
Gehenna: Naked Aggression #1 unreels in a breathless rush. Gehenna narrates the first two acts, while the third follows her pursuers. Patrick Kindlon’s story is about a plan gone wrong. But it’s also about a life gone wrong. Perhaps Stephen understands what Gehenna is going through. He knows what his father does. And Stephen is old enough and smart enough to know that's not how everyone lives.
Gehenna: Naked Aggression #1 reminds us how often society disregards transgressions if the perpetrators have money and influence. But the story also holds out hope that Gehenna will turn her life around. Because when you keep wondering why you’re doing something, it’s time to move on.
Art
Maurizio Rosenzweig introduces each act with two widescreen scenes on double-page spreads separated by a title. Clad in leather, a utility belt, arm wrappings, and boots, Gehenna charges through panels. Muscles and hair are clearly defined, thanks to detailed penciling. Tiny dust clouds indicate rapid movement, while close-ups of weapons and gunfire enhance this die-hard thriller.
As Gehenna barrels through the chaos in white and black, Matteo Vattani enlivens scenes with a loaded palette. Grounded by purple-gray shading and brown fallen leaves, the autumn colors red, orange, and yellow suggest the end of an era in Gehenna: Naked Aggression #1. The extravagant gold stairs in her target's home and the opulent furnishings contrast with Gehenna's past. Once, she dressed far more casually amid panels featuring limited colors. But those are just memories now, as faded as a photograph left in the sun.
Black uppercase letters in white narrative boxes reveal the narrators' thoughts and off-camera conversations. Dialogue appears in balloons with straight lines and razor-sharp edges. White and colored sound effects enhance the action, as yellow erupts from wood in a fearful symmetry, and fools rush in where detectives fear to tread. Thanks to Image Comics for providing a review copy.
Final Thoughts
Gehenna tried to follow the rules. But when the gamemasters ignored the rules, she dedicated her life to hurting the people who ruined hers. As Gehenna fights for what is right, the past intrudes on the present, reminding her of what she has lost. Gehenna Naked Aggression #1 is an over-the-top revenge tale. But perhaps it's a story that will lead to redemption.
Rating 9.8/10
To look inside see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.
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