TOUCHING EVIL #19, from Source Point Press on December 29th, 2021, completes the origin of the curse and puts Oliver on the path of the last soul that will end his hunt for revenge.
The Details
- Written By: Dan Dougherty
- Art By: Dan Dougherty
- Colors By: Emily Zelasko, Wesley Wong
- Letters By: Milena Deneno
- Cover Art By: Dan Dougherty
- Cover Price: $3.99
- Release Date: December 29, 2021
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Was It Good?
The blessing and the curse (no pun intended) of the Touching Evil series is the massive amount of characters and plot threads to track. The volume of threads blesses the story with complexity and a sense of scale that’s quite impressive when there are no action set pieces, alien invasions, or Earth-shattering catastrophes. In other words, the creators successfully compensate for the lack of big moments with a big cast. On the other hand, you sometimes feel like you need a scorecard to keep track of who’s who and what’s what, making for a sometimes ponderous read.
In TOUCHING EVIL #19, the issue delivers more blessing than curse by keeping the plot tightly focused on three key areas – wrapping up the curse’s origin (maybe), Oliver’s detective work, and media charlatan Christopher Meister. Each area gets its due in a way that moves the admittedly heavy plot forward with a little overdue momentum.
The curse’s origin plays out well. You get a clear understanding now of where it came from, the meaning of the incantation, and Dougherty adds in a deserved amount of schadenfreude for Mr. Marshall.
Oliver grows as a character, with a little help from his mother, by intentionally entering limbo and getting the information he needs from those he’s killed. Those scenes show how Oliver has moved past acceptance of the curse and into a phase where he’s figuring out how to use it to his advantage.
Lastly, if we didn’t know by now that Christopher Meister was evil, we do now. It’s crystal clear Dougherty intended Meister to be an analog for Alex Jones but worse, and to be blunt, it takes you out of the story when the parallels are spelled out. When creators use real-life figures as stand-ins for heroes or villains, it rarely comes off as natural and typically falls flat because it kills the suspension of disbelief for the world the creators have constructed. Here it falls very flat and may be the biggest down point of the issue.
The art in this issue is a considerable step up from Dougherty as compared to the previous issues. Dougherty’s style is heavily referenced, meaning the characters look like redraws of real people. It’s a difficult style to get right, and that art approach in this series has been, at best, serviceable because the characters often look stiff or posing. Surprisingly, there are several pages of action in this issue that have a fair amount of energy and motion, and it’s a noticeable improvement for the series.
What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
If you don’t recall the last thing to happen to Oliver in the present or the nefarious Mr. Marshall in the past, first read our TOUCHING EVIL #18 review.
We begin with Christopher Meister briefing his staff on the recent deaths and his dawning realization that the curse is real. His staff mocks his conclusions, but he wants a security detail assigned until the killer is caught.
Later, Oliver enters his mind with a little chemical help to speak to Senator Barr and his lieutenants about what happened, the consequences if they don’t cooperate, and his intentions going forward. Fearing they might be trapped in limbo for a very long time, Barr and his men point Oliver in Meister’s direction.
Flashback to early America after the witch burning. Minister Marshall is seething with nausea and pain even though the mother he falsely accused as a witch is not dead. When the Minister takes a walk into the woods for some fresh air, he’s confronted with the now-orphaned girl who is a true witch and the one who speaks the curse into existence, causing escalating troubles for the Minister within the town.
We conclude the issue with the good Minister greatly reducing the population of his town and Oliver making a valiant attempt to shake Meister’s hand.
Final Thoughts
TOUCHING EVIL #19 exposes the curse’s origin with immediate and deadly consequences while Oliver tracks down the last member of the cabal. Dougherty does an admirable job of keeping the focus on the important threads to keep the story moving and give the plot some momentum. Also, the typically static art shows a noticeable improvement in energy during the action scenes.
Score: 8/10
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