One of the things I always forget about The Damned is just what a shit protagonist Eddie can be. It’s part of the comic’s DNA. Luckily, Bunn hasn’t forgotten. Needless to say, no spoilers, but it’s an excellent issue. There’s an action sequence, there’s a soul-selling flashback, there’s demons, there’s rain–all things Hurtt excels at illustrating. There’s so much weight in every panel. Damned is haunted in the best possible way.

Eddie takes his friend Pauly around town to talk to people about Pauly’s score and their deal for redemption. There’s some awesome demon stuff, some character development for Eddie, some excellent gangster banter courtesy Bunn, and, of course, the glorious Hurtt artwork. It’s a fine issue–laying hints for what’s to come–and it’s nice to see Bunn and Hurtt have found their Damned tone again.

Bunn and Hurtt open the issue with an atmospheric, ominous ride in the car for Eddie. It turns out to be less immediately dramatic and more about Bunn setting up Damned as an ongoing series. Eddie exists in a world with a lot going on; it’s not all about him. As the issue goes on, maybe there’s a little bit too much world-building and exposition, but it’s for Hurtt art so one can’t complain too much. Bunn’s definitely filling the book with content.

The Damned is back. Gloriously so. Brian Hurtt art. Gangsters and demons. Who cares if it’s good–it’s good, but when you see a double-page spread of Eddie’s club and it reminds of Casablanca all of a sudden, you know Hurtt’s enough to get it over any of the hurdles. And, really, the only hurdle is Cullen Bunn’s too talky narration. There’s lots and lots of it–which makes sense for the first issue of a relaunch–but it still gets tiring, sensical or not. The plotting’s good, the characters are good, the art’s wonderful. It’s so nice to have Damned back. I didn’t even realize how much I missed it.

Bunn brings Damned to a predictable, yet still unpredictable conclusion. The main story about the mob war ends predictably… but there’s a lot unexpected elements here. One’s a new story thread introduced, another’s a conclusion for a character—both have to do with how little Bunn has actually revealed about his protagonist.

Unfortunately, the ending is a little unfinished. Neither reveal is as effective as it could be. One needs more time, one needs less.

Otherwise, it’s a fantastic issue. Bunn plots it with a nice mix of investigation, action and wrap-up so Hurtt gets to draw a variety of styles. There’s some great demon mobster stuff (they never go crazy with the demon fighting though, which surprised me), but also a fine talking heads conclusion.

One of the best things about The Damned is how Bunn just presents the ground situation, never explains it.

It’s an excellent series.

I’m not sure if I just remember the twist in The Damned or if it’s obvious. It’s probably a little of both.

Here, in the fourth issue, Bunn gets around to really establishing the demon mythology (still no word on when they first showed up). Hurtt really shows his range here. He’s got the period architecture, gangsters, street fights between demons… but then he also has this “secret history of demons” stuff to illustrate.

See, as fallen angels left Heaven it was a migration to Hell (this revelation, which maybe doesn’t make much difference, is just a great detail from Bunn) and so Hurtt draws some of it. It’s simply beautiful.

Bunn and Hurtt get a lot done this issue. Hurtt even has two full page panels and they’ve got a lot of story. This issue might be my favorite of the series, just because they do so much stuff.