Death Vigil Volume 1

Art is of course amazing. Story is intense and keeps bringing back characters. Some good cliffhangers to boot. Definitely add this book to your collection

The battle of good and evil is front and center in Stjepan Sejic’s “Death Vigil: Volume I”. While there are certainly white hats, well hair, and black hats there are some important grey figures intermingling among them with amazing art by writer-artist Sejic keeping the reader engaged through the entire book.The basics of the story is Death, aka Bernie, selects individuals who die valiantly to become Death Knights to defend the living from Necromancers who attempt to bring primordial beings to Earth. The lead character is Sam, a veteran of the Vigil, who explains the structure and way of life of the Vigil to the newcomer Clara whose induction into the group is hiding something from the primordial realm that pops up in important situations for her character throughout the book. On the other side, the Necromancers are “led” by numerous individuals however the prime mover throughout this book is Maria Benes bargains with ‘the King’ for the translation of a powerful Necromancer in exchange for her taking Bernie’s place. And added to the mix the necromancer characters Alistair and his daughter Mia who side with the Vigil though Alistair and Bernie do like one anotherAfter the initial introduction to the concept of the Vigil, Sejic introduces new things throughout the book interesting ways and foreshadows many things that the reader obviously only recognizes when it comes up against in important points of the story. Throughout the book, the Vigil aligned characters are fond of puns, bad puns at that but all of them acknowledge that the puns are bad which adds a little comic flare. A constant throughout the entire book is the excellent art of Sejic who’s long list of credits gives one the idea about how much his talent is wanted and acknowledged by the comic industry.Upon finishing “Death Vigil: Volume I” the reader will find like myself that they want more and the dangling story arcs continue and grow over time. But the only way for that to happen is for this book to sell good giving Sejic incentive to writing Volume II. Trust me, you’ll not be sorry about reading this book and will agree on wanting more.

The story begins with an ending: nice guy Sam Lewis was on his way to a costume party when he interrupted an armed robbery, saving two young women and dying of his gunshot wounds. Lying in the alley, he looks up and sees a gaunt woman with a white face and long, white hair, she's dressed in a purple-black hooded gown, holding a giant scythe. "Holy crap... Who are you?" "Really? Who? Isn't it obvious? I'm Santa Claus. And I'm here because I'm in dire need of some elves..."The Reaper - her name is Bernadette, but you can call her Bernie - runs a group called the Death Vigil, dead mortals who got a second life to fight an ancient evil threatening to destroy humanity. The Vigil's members each have a gift - a tool or object that gives them a special power. Sam's are a pick and shovel, weapons which he can also use to raise a ship full of undead Vikings when things get really bad. And, oh yeah, Bernie and Sam are a couple (who says romance is dead?)Think of "Death Vigil" as a supernatural adventure with romance-comedy elements, fun characters and some of the best art in a graphic novel anywhere. It's by the amazing (hey, just look at the clips I've included!) Stjepan Sejic - the artist-writer behind the international best-selling erotic-romance-comedy series "Sunstone," and an as-yet-unannounced special project for DC Comics series.I'm a big fan of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," and if you enjoyed that series, "Death Vigil" is a must-have. So... Buy it, already!

Stjepan Sejic (one of my favorite modern comic book illustrators and authors) scores another solid indie hit with Death Vigil. In an eternal war between abyssal horrors summoned by dark necromancers and a clandestine group of heroes who fight back against them, a new member is thrown into the fray when her boyfriend attempts to sacrifice her life with necromancy and dark magic. On the brink of death the girl, Clara, is offered a second chance at life by the Grim Reaper in exchange for joining the Vigil: the order that seeks to destroy the necromancers. Lucky for Clara, the Vigil are also one big happy family centered around the Reaper or, as she prefers to be called, Bernie. Taken under the wing of Sam, one of Bernie's favorite Vigil members, Clara meets a wide variety of characters in this almost anime-inspired take on a war between the Reaper's forces and Lovecraftian nightmares. The artwork and creature designs are explosive and Sejic does solid work on the writing side by bringing his characters to life with the same love and humor that made his Sunstone series such a surprise joy. Sadly, due to poor sales Death Vigil did not continue for long though now is a great time to pick up the book and show it some love as Sejic has finally announced a second volume to come. That's a relief as the only real downside of the first volume here is that there is a bit too much time spent on world building exposition and not enough on the characters (Sam and Bernie's romance is hinted at in the first few issues, but not really confirmed until the final issues).

This has a nice premise and starts off well paced. It gets overly complicated though. This is in the art where the 'monsters' are too complex and despite their enormous size...too easily killed. Its also in the story as well...too complex. I like when there are a lot of characters but it feels like their are more than the writer can handle and the story just needs toned down to a reasonable level.If someone just sucked some of the energy out of this it could have been great. I think the writer/artist worked too hard on this to make it great. A real shame.

This is the collected edition of a very good series. Stjepan Sejic is currently best known for Sunstone, but this is his labour of love.It's got all the makings of a classic. The characters, both heroes and villains, are distinctive and interesting, with well developed personalities. The plot is excellent. The art is first rate (Stjepan's thankfully gotten over the hyper-realistic style he used in Ravine, which is a bit uncanny valley for my taste). And the dialogue pops. And he's good at using these synergisticly. The clear expressions are very good at making the character's personalities come alive.There's a lot going on in this series, with a long history and a tremendous change in the circumstances of the characters part way through, but you're never losing track of the plot.My only complaints are that the binding is a bit stiff and I'm slightly worried about damaging it, and I find it difficult to spell or pronounce the author's name correctly.

It’s relatively unusual in the comic book world for an artist to also be the writer, of only because of the time it takes to do both. Stjepan Sejic manages to combine being a wry writer with being one of the most exciting artists in the genre, and this work doesn’t disappoint. It’s less adult than his other significant work “Sunstone”, and is set within the urban fantasy gothic horror type genre, so if those things appeal definitely buy it.

So I need to state right off the bat that I've never reviewed anything on Amazon before. The fact that I choose to do so for this, and that I do it hoping that my review encourages more people to buy this so that Stjepan can write and draw more in series should say a lot.As for the comic itself, enthralling. The universe he's created for this story and the characters he's populated it with have a mesmerising and endearing level of depth. The art style is wonderfully detailed and dramatic, suiting the storyline and theme itself oh so well.If you get this and read it I can guarantee that you'll tear through it and then likely do it again before shoving it at your friends with the desire to share with them your awesome new discovery. I'm short, buy it, read it and tell everyone who will listen about it so that they will do the same and we can feed our new shared addiction.

Yes, I'm joining the other reviewers with a whacking 5 stars for this.Sejic is a really unique voice in a crowded marketplace and this is a superb addition to his growing list of hits.If you like this and haven't looked into sunstone yet, please do so. Same subtle writing, expressive art and care for his characters.More, please, but don't drift away to the big two- we love you as you are!