Comics Review: "PURGATORI Volume 2 #5" Offers a Complicated Ending

PURGATORI VOLUME 2 #5
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

STORY: Ray Fawkes
ART: Álvaro Sarraseca
COLORS: Salvatore Aiala
LETTERS: Tom Napolitano
EDITOR: Matt Idelson
COVER: Antonio Fuso
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Russell Fox; Michael Sta. Maria; Daniel Maine; Ken Haeser; Alvaro Sarraseca; Jimmy Broxton; Nerdy Nereid (cosplay)
32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (February 2022)

Rated Teen+

Purgatori created by Brian Pulido and Steven Hughes

“Witches Get Stitches” Part 5/Finale

Purgatori is a horror comics character created by writer Brian Pulido and artist Steven Hughes and originally published by Chaos! Comics.  A crimson-skinned, winged vampire goddess, she first appeared in the comic book, Evil Ernie: Revenge #1 (cover dated: October 1994).  Chaos! Comics eventually went out of business, and in 2010, Purgatori became the intellectual property (IP) of Dynamite Entertainment.

Dynamite's first solo Purgatori comic book series is Purgatori Volume 2.  It is written by Ray Fawkes; drawn by Álvaro Sarraseca; colored by Salvatore Aiala and Mohan; and lettered by Tom Napolitano.  Purgatori follows the title character as she deals with a plot against her, formulated by a coven of witches who want her immortality and power.

Purgatori Volume 2 #5 opens in London.  Inside the lair of the coven of young body-snatching witches who want her body, Purgatori struggles against their power inside a “banishing circle.”  The witches are set to take everything, and if they win, every soul Purgatori's got and all the power she's accumulated are theirs for the taking.  One side will win everything, and the other side will lose big!

Meanwhile, in the Nile Basin of Kenya. Asim Darwish, the last of the warriors of St. Luke, the monster-hunting society, is about to learn some things.  Here comes the “Holy Messenger” or “Messenger from God.”  But all is not how it seems.

THE LOWDOWN:  In July 2021, Dynamite Entertainment's marketing department began providing me with PDF review copies of some of their titles.  One of them is Purgatori Volume 2 #5, which is the fifth Purgatori comic book of any kind that I've read.

Well, apparently, the fifth issue of Purgatori Volume 2 is the end of the series, but this isn't the last we see of Purgatori and Asim Darwish.  That aside, writer Ray Fawkes offers a final issue that is good, but lacks the punch of the previous volumes.  This feels like what it is – a somewhat aborted ending of a story arc – because there is more to come.

Artist Álvaro Sarraseca delivers some deftly designed art.  There are two magical battles here, and Sarraseca makes them look wild and weird.  At least, I was convinced that Purgatori was in danger (although her troubles may only be just beginning).  So I recommend this series, and I have to state the obvious.  I will be waiting for whatever is next.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Chaos Comics Purgatori will want to visit Purgatori Volume 2.

B+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


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