Trapped in the spirit world, Mariko Yashida has been trapped between warring factions, trying to save humanity from yokai from beyond. But things just got more complicated. Your Major Spoilers review of Demon Wars: Scarlet Sin #1 from Marvel Comics awaits!

DEMON WARS: SCARLET SIN #1

Writer: Peach Momoko/Zack Davisson
Artist: Peach Momoko
Colorist: Peach Momoko
Letterer: VC’s Ariana Maher
Editor: Lindsey Cohick
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: May 3, 2023

Previously in Demon War: Scarlet Sin: The yokai are at war, and Mariko Yashida, descendent of the Oni King, has to choose a side. The fates of the spirit world and the human world hang in the balance. But things just got complicated thanks to the appearance of a mysterious yokai with incredible power. This Yokai has a scheme of her own, and she wants to paint the world scarlet.

MARVEL LIKE YOU’VE NEVER SEEN IT

After being accompanied by the shield-wielding warrior, Yamato, through the spirit world, Mariko has finally realized what unnerved her about him: He’s being controlled by the yokai, Momiji. She is able to defeat him in combat, but finds that Momiji is a master of illusion, dragging her through a series of false realities before she realizes what is happening, only for Kigandoshi, the ancient demon king who provided her mystical jaw armor to arrive. With the help of her allies (low-fantasy Japanese mythical takes on The Avengers), she is able to not only end the threat of the yokai, but come to terms with her own anger and loss, which allows her to return home to the real world.

But is she free of the spirit world once and for all?

EXQUISITE ART

This book has some really lovely visual moments, including Mariko dispatching her enormous demon forefather with a single clever move. It’s interesting to see the visual language of manga tied to so many singularly Western concepts, making for a Captain America samurai with impressionistic shield shapes on his robes or a living suit of armor standing in for Iron Man. The only real downside of those visuals comes in trying to figure out which characters are meant to reference an Avenger and which aren’t, something that distracted me more than once during the reading of this issue. As for the story, it’s actually a very classical tale, one that I’ve read before, which is both a net positive and a bit of a negative for the issue. On the one hand, it makes for a very satisfying end, but if you’re a person who is seeking out surprises or big swerves, it might feel somewhat rote.

BOTTOM LINE: BETTER THAN MARVEL MANGAVERSE

Even with those questions, though, Demon Wars: Scarlet Sin #1 wraps up the ongoing story well, with some impressive (if uncharacteristic of the usual Marvel fare) art and a

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