It’s the gods of myth versus Purgatori, and only one side can prevail. And she’s got a pretty big head start! Your Major Spoilers review of Purgatori Must Die #1 from Dynamite Entertainment awaits!

PURGATORI MUST DIE #1

Writer: Ray Fawkes
Artist: Alvaro Sarraseca
Colorist: Salvatore Aiala
Letterer: Tom Napolitano
Editor: Matt Idelson
Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: January 4, 2023

Previously in Purgatori Must Die: Purgatori’s always pissing somebody off… but this time she may have gone too far! It may have some connection to her growing insanely powerful and probably starting to kill and eat the gods. In fact, that last part for sure. And gods are like potato chips, right?

It’s not like she’s going to stop at one.

EVEN A GOD CAN DIE

This issue opens with a conclave of the gods. Not just one pantheon or order, but ALL of them, from Quetzalcoatl to Thor to Thoth to Hachiman, all assembled and realized that Purgatori has become a threat to them all. Her ability to absorb the sum total of her victims’ essences has made her a threat to even the gods, who are now willing to throw everything at her. As she lounges by a pool (full of corpses, natch), Purgatori watches the very sky shatter, just before her eyes are impaled by shards of… I dunno, the fabric of the cosmos? She and her partner defeat all the attackers, just in time for the shards in her eyes to EXPLODE and literally blow our heroine’s head off.

And that’s when things start getting REALLY dangerous.

A DARK AND MUDDY COLOR PALETTE

The middle part of this story serves as a kind of Chaos! Comics reunion, as the gods enlist Evil Ernie, Vampirella, Draculina, Pantha, Lilith, and Chastity (among others) to bring down Purgatori before she can kill them. Even Lady Hel (who is totally NOT Lady Death, at least for copyright purposes), a former goddess herself, gets in on the hunting party, making it clear that the title isn’t hyperbolic. Sarraseca’s art is quite good, especially during the montage of introduction/reintroduction sequences, but the entire issue is colored in very dark, muddy tones. Purgatori’s hellish red skin looks deep brown, while the flashbacks to her origins in ancient Egypt are just blobs of brown. It’s really frustrating, as all the colors are flattened and dulled by the coloring, making even brightly colored items like Vampirella’s red sling-kini a dull brown.

BOTTOM LINE: FUN STORY, OKAY ART, BAD COLORING

All in all, though, Purgatori Must Die #1 sets up an awful lot to come, including a series of battles between ‘Tori and other Dynamite stars that are the main draw for me, with art that gets the job done in spite of unsuccessful coloring and some clever dialogue, earning 2.5 out of 5 stars overall. I’d have liked a little more information on some of the guest stars but it’s a mostly successful first issue read for me.

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