In Hell We Fight #1 Review: A Familiar Format for Teenage Shenanigans
In Hell We Fight #1 introduces readers to its world through the eyes of Xander Bridgeford, a frog-smashing student from a rural school in late 20th century America who finds himself drowned and dragged to Hell by a demonic frog. It's a potent starting point for a series ostensibly about the souls of dead children and adolescents goofing around in a place of eternal damnation. No sooner has Xander met his demise than we're introduced to the rest of his gang (almost certainly more than a century later?) as they prepare to heist a truck filled with ice cream. This juxtaposition of the mundane and familiar (i.e. kids stealing candy) alongside the outlandish (i.e. children trapped in Hell) is packed with possibilities, but In Hell We Fight #1 rarely seizes upon that strangeness, instead opting to trot out a plot and approach that feel all too familiar.
Before the shortcomings of plot and character are apparent, readers are introduced to an intriguing new vision of a setting portrayed in comics many times before. Artist Jok (accompanied on colors by Mey) provides a unique aesthetic in their pages that simultaneously distills characters and monsters into easily recognized, minimalist designs while filling backgrounds with small details and infusing an abundance of linework that makes Hell obviously unappealing. Jok's figures and expressions are bound to evoke favorable comparisons with Wes Craig.
There's a versatility present as pages shift from massive displays of an Arch-Demon Lord to children arguing in a ring without either scale overwhelming its counterpart. Small affectations in lettering, like a "devil horns" emoji in place of a word balloon (an awkwardly added "Cool" doesn't undermine it much), serve to further distinguish Jok's presence as a storyteller. It's this design work and Jok's relatively unknown capacity that has me most interested to continue reading In Hell We Fight.
The same cannot be said for the story itself as it struggles to define exactly what it aims to be. On its surface, In Hell We Fight #1 is the story of a children's gang engaged in shenanigans – not too distant from its comics originators like the Newsboy Legion. Each of the members has a schtick, including super-competent Japanese assassin (and all of the cringe that entails), a child whose head sprouts hatchets, and a demon. The supernatural nature of most of their abilities is purely an aesthetic affectation, as is the nature of their endeavor. For all intents and purposes, the heist plays out like a goofy truck heist. That the drivers are demons or the ice cream may possess some terrible flavor are just jokes about all of this occurring in Hell.
Despite the unique appearance of Jok's backgrounds, they seem to have nothing to do with the story being told. At no point during In Hell We Fight #1 is the significance of being in Hell ever established. Specific references to a powerful demon provide no tension whatsoever because it seems like Hell is simply a wasteland where individuals may wander wherever they want. It's not even clear what negative consequences there might be for this heist considering the demons in the vehicle are far less imposing than the children attacking them.
All of this makes it difficult to invest in the proceedings; it doesn't help that each member of the cast exists primarily as a cliché or gag. So when the cliffhanger arrives and posits a much grander adventure ahead, it's entirely unclear what that might entail or why anyone should care about it. If In Hell We Fight is going to continue, it will have to define the strange world it has summoned onto its pages because at the end of issue #1 there's very little below the surface.
Published by Image Comics
On June 7, 2023
Written by John Layman
Art by Jok
Colors by Jok and Mey
Letters by John Layman
Cover by Jok