REVIEW | Falling in Love on the Path to Hell #1

REVIEW | Falling in Love on the Path to Hell #1

What happens when you combine a Western and samurai tale? Damn good comics.

Falling in Love on the Path to Hell #1 is written by Gerry Duggan with art by Garry Brown, colors by Chris O’Halloran, letters by Joe Sabino, logo and design by Elliott Gray, and edited by Virginia Duggan. This double-sized first issue introduces readers to the series’ two leads. The first, MacRaith, is a gunslinger who follows his revenge as far as it will take him. The second, Asami, is an Onna-musha warrior and female samurai who refuses to relinquish her blades. This first issue is mostly setup for the tale to come and finds its two leads crossing paths near the end.

This issue can, at times, feel exposition-heavy. It’s a bit expected, given that it’s a first issue and has to establish the world and the characters for the reader. The age of the gunslinger and samurai ended around roughly the same time, which is a wild thing to think about. Duggan seizes hold of this historic happenstance to weave the two worlds together. Westerns and samurai stories as genres have historically hit a lot of similar beats and maintain a similar vibe. This makes it even easier to blend them together here.

Both characters have stellar introductions that showcase their dispositions. Asami is an absolute scene-stealer, while MacRaith embodies the typical down-to-business demeanor you’d expect from a ruthless gunslinger. The bulk of the issue spends time with each character individually, with maybe a slight edge in overall page count towards Asami, before finally bringing both characters together in the final pages.

This book has some of my favorite on-panel sword kills that I have ever seen in comics. There’s an impressive level of energy and motion conveyed…

Brown’s art accompanied by O’Halloran’s colors are a sight to behold. The action gets downright brutal. This book has some of my favorite on-panel sword kills that I have ever seen in comics. There’s an impressive level of energy and motion conveyed through smart page and panel layouts. The action flows smoothly from one moment to the next and it gives the reader a clear sense of what’s happening in each scene. O’Halloran’s colors are saturated with deep, vivid hues that play beautifully off the heavy shadows found in Brown’s inks. There’s an overall feeling of grittiness to the book that matches the tone of the story wonderfully.

Sabino’s letters deftly guide readers along each page. As I said at the top, there’s a decent amount of exposition to be found, but it never becomes overbearing for the reader. Words are crisp and legible, bubbles are placed intelligently, and it all flows in tandem with the narrative. There’s also some killer SFX work being done throughout the issue that enhances the impact of the art.

There’s a sequence near the end of the issue – when the two protagonists are being brought together – that brilliantly captures the power of sequential visual storytelling. There are deep blues mixed with inviting purples, cut through by harsh, blinding yellows that make for a truly eye-catching image. It’s a sequence that ties the entire issue together visually and narratively and my hat goes off to the entire creative team for pulling it off.

Geek Network gives Falling in Love on the Path to Hell #1 a 8/10

Overall, this first issue is a super solid start to a promising series. The solicit sums up what this book will be about perfectly, and if it sounds like it might be up your alley, it probably is. Two genres that have played off each other well get some horror and romance thrown in, and it’s a recipe for success. When you blend a great idea with a stacked creative team you get Falling in Love on the Path to Hell #1, a wickedly fun read.