When is a Demon not a Demon?

The tantalizing question of our header today is one that is posited in the comic Demon’s Regret, due out in June by Digital Webbing Press ($3.99). The comic is the work of writer Mitch Brown, and his crack art team of Wilfredo Torres, Mike Kilgore, Nate Pride, and with an outstanding cover by the legendary Michael Golden. I came across Mitch’s comic a short time ago, and he very graciously provided me with an electronic copy, and I’d like to fill you in on the treat you will receive when you acquire a hardcopy of your very own.

The first image you see here to our left is the Michael Golden cover, while the one that follows (just below) is the variant Wilfredo Torres cover. From where I sit, they both make very striking images, and you’d do yourself to get yourself either one of them.

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Demon’s Regret (Created and written by Mitch Brown with art by Wilfredo Torres; published by FiveMBooks LLC)

We all know the story of Lucifer, the leader of the hosts of Heaven — he who was called Morningstar. Lucifer the beautiful, Lucifer the vain. The Arch-Angel who thought himself to be equal to the Lord God on high, and lead a led a revolt of a full contingent of a third of all the Angles against their Lord. Well, so too does, Mitch Brown, only in Mitch’s tale, there is something of a unique twist.

You see, amongst Morningstars’ acolytes there is one who is not so taken with the lofty verbiage of the deceiver’s. Asmodeus willing went with Morningstar, only, once the turncoat angels were pitched out of heaven the others kept believing in Morningstar’s lies, Asmodeus did not. However he realized that he had begun to tread a path from which he could never return. While man was offered an out in the form of the son of God, the fallen angels were condemned to forever live outside the Grace of heaven.

Unable to return to heaven, and unable to act out openly against the shining demon lord Morningstar, nee Lucifer, Asmodeus has come to know that was truly accursed. This then is Mitch Brown’s, tale, that of the fallen angel who has seen the error of his ways, and — even though he is beyond redemption — does what little he can to thwart the unholy mechinations of the Prince of lies he is forced to serve.

In this first story, we meet Fred Hudson, a Gulf War Special Forces Vet, who earned his Purple Heart by giving up the use of both his legs and his left hand. He now lives in Chicago where his daughter has just been slaughtered by a cult of Satanists who worship the dark Lord Morningstar. Realizing that he has to do something to prevent the rise in this heinous cult, Asmodeus chooses to act as he has before in the past.

Brown goes on weaves a very intricate, believable, and powerful story of world of the mythical and divine. This is not per se a religious story, nor is it truly of the profane; yet it is one that trods the very bridge between the two. So often we read stories of men and women who must rise above their own shortcomings and failings to achieve that which is just beyond their grasp. This then is one such story.

Given this setup, one wonders where Brown will go, certainly he has done his research well, casting Morningstar, Asmodeus, and the others. Brown knows how to properly weave a rich tapestry that is lovingly rendered in crisp lines and bright colors by Wilfredo Torres. Anyone picking up this book will be in for a treat, as it is not simply angels and demons; it is a heart-wrenching story of missed opportunities, lost futures, and that tantalizing ethereal thing called hope. This is a story well worth reading.

Once again, Demon’s Regret is from Digital Press Webbing, and will be distributed through Diamond. It appears in the Diamond April PREVIEWS and will be in stores in June, with a cover price of $3.99.