Review: Possessions – Book Three: The Better House Trap

There are very few books that actually upset me when I haveto wait for their release, but Possessionsis one of them. After blowing through the first two books I couldn’t wait toget my hands on the third book. I first discovered Possessions at Wonder Con last year during an Oni panel andinstantly became curious about the story. Basically it follows a little girl possessedby Gurgazon the Pit Demon. She’s been captured by a mystical butler thatmaintains a collection of supernatural beings trapped in a house as part of arich old woman’s collection.

The first book is about how Gurgazon is captured and herendless attempts at escaping the house, while the second book has Gurgazondeepening the bounds between her and the other house guests she’s trapped with.The supporting characters/house guests include the Ice Field Lights a glowingblue Spector, The Pale Lady a headless woman once belong to the French upperclass, The Duke a possessed juke box that only speaks in songs and the SturmannPoltergeist that can only write on the walls in order to communicate. Theirjailer is Mr. Thorne and he’s one old dude with a ton of mystery surroundinghim.

This book begins in 1793 and recaps how the Pale Lady cameto lose her head. There is some great dialog between the servants of the house asthey respond to the lack of urgency their employer is showing in the wake oftheir house being stormed. Ultimately our Pale Lady is beheaded as was thething to do to the rich at that time in France.

We then precede to the modern day where our house guests arekilling time doing whatever entertains them the most. For Gurgazon that’sjumping on a bed until it’s broken. Being a creature of destruction herfavorite way to rebel in captivity is to break everything. After she figuresout that it’s their one day outside, Gurgazon makes a spirit phone call byusing the Ice Field Lights as a phone. It’s something that the Light’s isn’t familiarwith and it leaves him in a weakened state afterwards. While on the phoneGuargazon sets up the next part in her plan by invoking a favor from anotherdemon that cannot be turned down. Next it’s only a matter of time before Thorneis lured into a trap that could give the house guests he’s responsible the opportunityto escape that they’ve been so desperately seeking.

I enjoy this series very much. Ray Fawkes does an incrediblejob of making complex panels simple and beautiful. Each volume has a color thatis unique to that book and for this third installment the color is pink. Sincewe’re learning about the Pale Lady’s past it’s only suiting that the book beingin pink. Fawkes has a talented eye for layouts and storytelling as he uses thisone color to his advantage on every page. In particular, the art has a greatstyle that is both appealing to children and adults at the same time.

That’s also one of the strengths of the story as well. Thisis an all-ages friendly book, but it is very appealing to those that enjoyhumor in comics and can enjoy a simple tale that is actually very deep intheology. If you actually think about what Gurgazon is, she’s a possessedlittle girl that’s never going to be the normal little girl she once was. That’sactually very dark, but in the context of the story you ignore this fact and justwait for her crazy antics.

The dialog and characters are really charming for thisseries. The banter back and forth with the spirits is always worth a smile ifnot a full laugh. Gurgazon in particular is always amusing because hercharacter is a terrible liar and usually hurts everyone’s feelings. Thisterrible Pit Demon is forced to behave and make friends which are completelyagainst her nature. It makes for interesting stories and characterinteractions.

If you’re looking for an all-ages book or even one to getsomeone into reading comics this is a great choice. You can literally pick upall three volumes for under twenty bucks and enjoy some hilarious moments in asetting that is reminiscent of a dark comedy. The only problem now is that onceyou’re caught up you’ll be stuck like me, pissed off and waiting for the nextbook to come out.

Score: 4/5

Writer/Artist: Ray Fawkes

Publisher: Oni Press

Price: $5.99

Release Date: 2/22/2012

Comments

[Rori]

I just bought the first two, wish I had gotten three! :D Thanks for the review!