The Devil's Red Bride #3

The Devil’s Red Bride #3

Vault Comics 2020

Written by Sebastian Girner

Illustrated by John Bivens

Coloured by Iris Monahan

Lettered by Jeff Powell

Barely surviving the onslaught of the dread ninja, the battered party of Ronin take refuge in an old mountain temple. As Ketsuko learns more about Fubei’s past, she ponders her own bloody choices. But the temple is not as abandoned as it seemed, and Ketsuko is not the only one who struck a deal with a devil…

I am here to testify that with every step further into this story the further we get into a world where anything is possible and the unexpected is commonplace. It feels like the story at times moves as quickly as the characters through these lands, which isn’t very far at all when you see their progress. I will say that what we see and when we see it is placed perfectly amid the story and this goes for current or backstory as it relates to our characters. I get so swept up in what we see and it almost feels like time stands still as you read the story.

I love the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold is impeccably rendered. I am loving how they can come upon something that seems like an empty monastery can bring so much drama and revelation is beyond my scope of understanding and yet it is the exact thing that’s needed and to see Sebastian being able convey so much through a course of action is stunning. The character development keeps taking as many twists & turns as the story itself only in ways that make you think twice about how you feel ab out a few of these characters. I cannot believe how my thoughts change as we see how these characters act and react to the situations and circumstances they encounter. The pacing is fabulous and as it takes us through the pages revealing the twists and turns along the way we get to take such an unexpected detour.

The way we see this being structured and how the layers within the story and how they keep flowing like a river whose banks swell with rain or the melting snow bring many surprises. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow is utterly delightful and how that incorporates these twists & turns to utilise them within the flow is masterfully rendered.

The interiors here are gorgeous! I mean there’s this near fairy tale quality to the work that we se are seeing here that mixes with the Brothers Grimm so that it feels wispy and creepy at the same time. The linework that we see is well rendered and how we see the varying weights are utilised to create the detail work is extraordinary. Backgrounds are more judiciously utilised and i’m actually okay with that because of the overall mood, tone and feel that the imagery evokes. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkably talented eye for storytelling. The colour work is stupendous and how we see the various hues and tones within the colour palate being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is sublime to see, more so because of how muted it is.

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Maybe there is something in the water, I don’t know but what I do know is that we are seeing such interesting and outside the box thinking that sets the industry on fire. This is so intelligently written and it’s dynamic, interesting and beyond reason that we should be immersed in this world to such a degree and wish we could stay there. This is the next level of storytelling and it’s arrived and it’s welcome.