PURGATORI (VOL. 2) #2 – Review

PURGATORI (VOL. 2) #2, available from Dynamite Comics on November 17th, 2021, takes a trip to Norway where Purgatori’s sudden appearance puts her in the path of a monster hunter and assorted woodland beasts guarding something dangerous.

The Details

• Written By: Ray Fawkes
• Art By: Álvaro Sarraseca
• Colors By: Salvatore Aiala
• Letters By: Tom Napolitano
• Cover Art By: Antonio Fuso (cover A)
• Cover Price: $3.99
• Release Date: November 17, 2021

Wait! Don’t Forget To Sign Up For The Comical Opinions Newsletter.

Was It Good?

Purgatori is not a nice person… err, demon. From most points of view, she’s a terrible monster. Yet, someway, somehow she’s a fun character to get to know, and that’s all due to Ray Fawkes’s phenomenal character work.

In this issue, Purgatori is out of her element as she wakes up in faraway lands after the witches’ coven attacked her, and you get a much clearer sense of how Purgatori incorporates her own memories and the memories of those she drains to help her grow in both knowledge and power. Purgatori is physically formidable, but it’s her extensive knowledge of almost every corner of the planet and the assorted beasts she’s likely to encounter that makes her something extra.

On top of her knowledge and abilities, Fawkes infuses Purgatori’s personality with 10-miles thick layers of wit and sarcasm. When she encounters an array of forest monsters, she not only is unafraid, but she revels in finding creative ways of destroying them. To Purgatori, violence is fun and she’s completely cocky in her ability to dominate any opponent. She enjoys being a demon. She enjoys being an unstoppable killing machine. Despite the horrific nature of her character, she’s having fun and you can’t help but enjoy the fun vicariously through her.

In addition to Fawkes’s writing, the book is made more enjoyable by Sarraseca’s devilishly innocent art style. While Purgatori is ripping off limbs, she wears an expression of utter joy mixed with cavalier indifference to the suffering of her victims. It’s strange how much fun she has being snarky while destroying everything that gets in her way, and it’s all captured so vividly through Serraseca’s artwork combined with excellent coloring by Aiala.

What’s It About?

[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]

Norway?!? What?!? Yes, that’s right. If you’re as lost as Purgatori, read our PURGATORI (VOL. 2) #1 review to get caught up.

You heard me. Norway!

Purgatori comes to her senses after being forcefully teleported away from her Chinese sanctuary. Old memories of warriors she’s drained and her own travels to the Northern lands intermix with the present as a familiar hallucination. Suddenly, she’s attacked by a group of giant Draugar. Purgatori makes quick work of the giants as they pose absolutely no threat to her at all.

During the fight, an arrow whizzed by her ear and she turns to be met by a monster hunter from the order of St. Luke named Asim Darwish. Asim is the last of the order and he’s here to hunt down a witch’s summoning before it can bring forth something nasty. The Draugar, Asim explains, are merely guards to protect the witch’s work from being interrupted.

Purgatori and Asim grudgingly follow each other to the summoning source, trading razor-sharp barbs of snark along the way. When they reach the center of the summoning, they find a single witch who appears to be too young for the spell she’s casting. We conclude the issue with Asim realizing there’s a spell within the spell, the coven aiding the witch remotely, and Purgatori smiling an unnatural smile… for her.

Final Thoughts

PURGATORI (VOL. 2) #2 takes devilish glee to new levels with a central character who revels in the mayhem and destruction she causes. You can’t help but feel the fun Purgatori is having, even when a coven of witches is executing an evil plan for her destruction. Excellent writing is combined with equally excellent art for an enjoyable issue.

Score: 9/10

As an Amazon Associate, we earn revenue from qualifying purchases to help fund this site. Links to Blu-Rays, DVDs, Books, Movies, and more contained in this article are affiliate links. Please consider purchasing if you find something interesting, and thank you for your support.