All the denizens of hell are on the verge of crossing over to the mortal world. The only thing standing in their way is a teenage vampire slayer from Sunnydale and a vampire with a soul from L.A. Your major spoilers review awaits!

HELLMOUTH #1

Writers: Jordie Bellaire & Jeremy Lambert
Artist: Eleonora Carlini
Colorist: Cris Peter
Letterer: Ed Dukeshire
Editor: Jeanine Schaefer
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: October 9th, 2019

Previously in Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Drusilla has nearly achieved her goal of opening the hellmouth underneath the town of Sunnydale.  But, both Buffy and Angel are on the case and have been trying to prevent this in their own ways and have set themselves on a collision course as they both race to stop hell from pouring out onto earth.

CARDIO, CARDIO, CARDIO

Hellmouth #1 starts out in the immediate aftermath of Drusilla having accomplished the next step in opening the Hellmouth, much to Spike’s displeasure. Giles manages to escape with Buffy’s mother and runs to warn The Slayer of Drusilla’s plan. Over at their high school, Buffy and Xander are running in the halls, that happen to be flooded with skeletal rats. They eventually make it to the library where they meet up with Cordelia. The meeting is cut short when Angel barges in and then promptly leaves. Buffy takes off, running after him.  The two share a brief conversation before introducing themselves.  They then arrive at the hellmouth and jump right in.

A BIT UNDERWHELMING

The one thing that this issue really nails is the tone that most people are familiar with when it comes to Buffy and Angel.  There’s plenty of quips and sarcastic lines being thrown around, even in the midst of an oncoming apocalypse, which should be nice for longtime fans. Hellmouth #1 does stumble though when handling what was being touted as a big event, the meeting of Buffy and Angel, almost as an afterthought. On top of that, so far those characters aren’t being written as having much initial chemistry, with Angel in particular coming off as particularly bland.  Considering that this issue is dialog driven rather than action, it makes for a tough read for anyone who isn’t really invested in these series’.

GOOD CHARACTER WORK

It’s impressive how Eleonora Carlini has managed to make these characters look like they do in the shows, while at the same time not like Sarah Michelle Gellar or David Boreanaz.  It’s difficult to explain, but lovely to look at. There are some moments when action isn’t completely clear but those panels are few and far between.

BOTTOM LINE: NOT A GREAT START TO AN EVENT

There’s plenty of time for this event to kick it into gear and shine, but it’s off to a slow start. While they manage to emulate the classic feel of these Buffyverse shows, it’s missing compelling interaction between the main characters and is seriously lacking action to pick up the storytelling slack. And, while the art is pretty good, it’s not enough to elevate this issue over it’s writing flaws.  2.5 out of 5 stars

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