This prequel slash teaser slash ashcan ran as a backup in other Oni titles and online. I’ve read The Damned before and… although there’s some nice Hurtt art here (there’s a double page spread, not a lot of action, but the art is beautiful), it’s not a very good preview.

Bunn sort of introduces the premise–but it’s just not long enough so it doesn’t work. It’s not confusing (though, one might wonder why a demon shows up at the end–the opening demon, the protagonist’s friend, isn’t sensational enough), it just doesn’t work.

The protagonist narrates his sequence, explaining he can’t die without coming out and saying it. As written narration, it’s good Bunn doesn’t go too far. It wouldn’t make any sense to be so expository. But as a teaser for the series….

Teaser stories are rarely beneficial to the eventual narrative. Even Bunn can’t escape that fact.