The Virgin Killers #1

Created by: Richard Itskovich

Written and Lettered by: Jeff Marvin

Illustrated and Colored by: Alex Yi

Published by: Andaway Comics

Years ago, at a secluded Abbey in Spain, during a dark and gloomy night, a pair of babies are left behind by a desperate couple. Later that same night a demonic presence invades the abbey, attempting to destroy the infants. A lone priest rises to their defense and is able to repel the otherworldly attacker before it succeeds in its mission. After the attack, the inhabitants of the abbey decide that they must protect the girls at all costs and raise them to defend themselves against the very monsters that would destroy them.

Thus begins an intriguing tale of battle with otherworldly forces that every fan of Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel will enjoy. The babies, you see, are a pair of girls who will grow to fulfill a specific destiny. In the world of The Virgin Killers, there are horrifying beasts plotting to destroy humanity and the very abbey that these infants have been left at is home to a secret religious order who are set to stand guard against their plans.

The Virgin Killers is an interesting take on the female warrior genre. While the girl raised to be a guardian against the forces of evil archetype has been done before, the creators of The Virgin Killers have added the somewhat unique twist of making the female protagonists actual nuns. Yep, much like Ben Dunn’s somewhat forgotten Warrior Nun Areala, the two little girls who are dropped off at the monastery are raised within the faith and trained by the priests and nuns who take them in to be the baddest ass nuns on the planet. You can just toss your preconceived notions of nuns out the window when you open the pages of The Virgin Killers. These nuns are not like any other holy sister you’ve laid your eyes on. They are sexy and they are deadly and they are demon killers.

Creator Richard Iskovich and writer  Jeff Marvin offer up an imaginative tale of fighting the forces of evil in the pages of The Virgin Killers. The book is filled with action and laced with tidbits of gore and horror. It’s the perfect comic for someone who loves metaphysical action stories. Because this is a first issue much of the book is pretty much a somewhat standard origin tale but the concepts are compelling and the ideas are based enough in classic horror/monster movie tropes that the story was able to pull me in and keep me engaged.

The visual palette of the comic is successful as well. Artist Alex Yi has a heavily detailed style that reminded me of early Ron Lim from his Ex-Mutants days. The pages are well rendered and the story moves at a decent pace. All in all The Virgin Killers is an solid looking book. The only nitpick I would point out is that the placement of the lettering balloons can be a bit off. Not knowing which balloon to read next from panel to panel threw off the pacing of the story for me a bit but not so much that I couldn’t enjoy the story as a whole.

In the end The Virgin Killers is a book worth checking  out. Especially if you’re a horror or action fan. It successfully combines bits of both into a pleasing read that pays homage to some of the better aspects of both genres.

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