Evil Ernie Volume 1: Origin of Evil

Evil Ernie (Dynamite) #1

by Jesse Blaze Snider, Jason Craig (Illustrator)

Ernest Fairchild was a kind, gentle soul... until one day something snapped, leading him to launch the most notorious killing spree in American history! With 665 kills to his name, "Evil Ernie" required only one more victim to complete a demonic rite of passage: his foster father Buford, a wicked and sadistic convict incarcerated at Widmark Prison. Captured by authorities, Ernie eagerly awaits execution at his father's prison... because his electrifying demise will unleash the unkillable boogeyman inside him! What led an ordinary boy to become a leather-clad angel of death? How does he wield such blasphemous power? And what is the sinister secret behind the foul-mouthed smiley-face button that incites him to kill? The founding fiend of Chaos Comics is back, reinvented for a new generation! Collects Dynamite Entertainment's complete six-issue comic book storyline from Evil Ernie #1-6. Bonus material includes an extensive cover gallery featuring artwork by Tim Seeley (G.I.Joe Vs. Transformers, Hack/Slash), Dan Brereton (Batman: Thrillkiller, Nocturnals), Nick Bradshaw (Wolverine and the X-Men), and more.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Horror, Fiction, Comic Book

202 pages, Paperback

First published August 13, 2013

Reviews

[47Time · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ernest Fairchild has killed 665 people in his hometown. He is sentenced to die on the electric chair. He claims right up until the end that his victims were all evil and we get glimpses of the sins he sees written on people's foreheads. Upon dying, hell resurrects him into an almost invincible nightmare of a man. Greater power awaits him if he can kill his foster father, Buford.

Ernie's power charge is limited, a fact he finds right when he is surrounded by inmates with his foster father at the head, all wanting him dead. They cut off his arm, but he frees himself and punishes them. Buford takes Thana hostage. She is the prison psychiatrist and a woman who understood Ernie. Before Ernie can rescue her, he has to contend with the archangel Uriel, manifesting in a priest. Uriel tells Ernie that he was supposed to be a general in God's army. Then the priest is killed by Smiley while in control of a human host.

Buford unlocks all the inmates on death row to keep Ernie and Smiley busy while Thana sews Ernie's arm onto him. While fighting the inmates, Ernie and Smiley are taken out by Uriel, returned as a police officer. Then Bufort steps in and defeats Ernie with the power contained in Ernie's arm. Ernie resurrects again and brings back all the dead inmates to fight for him. After a series of taunts Ernie defeats Buford. Then the bombing ordered by a possessed president starts. It all seems useless in the end, but it's a good start for this less-than-popular character.

[Wayne McCoy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Evil Ernie Volume 1: Origin of Evil tells the origin story of Evil Ernie, a violent, horror comic where it's kind of hard to pick who you should be rooting for due to it's moral ambiguity. The violence is so excessive, dark and pervasive and the main protagonist is almost as evil as his enemy.

Ernie suffered a great loss on the day he was born. His father caused an accident that killed his brother and the mother who was carrying him. In the care of a stepfamily that seems to abuse or neglect him, he gets to the point where he does an unspeakable act. Now he is on death row and facing execution. What happens next sets off a series of violence where Ernie tries to kill his pyschotic father to complete a pact with evil.

It's a dark, dark series. Possibly the darkest I've read. I'm not sure I like this character, but I'm not sure he's supposed to be liked. Excessive evil and violence that may appeal to some, but not to me.

I was given a review copy of this graphic novel by Diamond Book Distributors and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

[michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

A different Ernie

It was definitely different from the source material. I do like the concept of Ernie being a lost soul. But the art style was cool. I do miss the signature grin.

[michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thumbs up

Finally got to scratch one off the list. I finally read volume one. It was a bloody demon of a good time. Ready to read the next volume.

[Diayll · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally Reviewed At: Mother/Gamer/Writer
Rating: 4 out of 5 Controllers
Review Source: NetGalley
Reviewer: Me


Evil Ernie is a sadistically beautiful masterpiece. I’m sure I wasn’t supposed to go “Eww“, “Oh Sh*t“, “For real?“, “Did that just happen?“, and “OMG” after every page I read. Nevertheless, that pretty much sums up my reactions. I couldn’t even formulate one complete sentence because my mind had become nothing but one word phrases. What the heck is going on? And why do I – crazy as this may sound – LOVE it? I grabbed Evil Ernie because I was looking for a cool quick read to get my comic book fix. However, I had no idea that I’d be sucked into a devilish world or murder and mayhem, good and evil. And by golly, I loved every minute of it – every kill, every gush of blood, every redeeming factor in Ernie as we learned about his past and his evil foster father. So maybe Evil Ernie is not so bad, really. In the grand scheme of things, maybe Evil Ernie is just seeking his place in the world whatever that might be. Is he an angle of death, or is he just a psycho with an evil clown button from the devil that gives him advice and eats people? Yeah, sounds crazy right?

Evil Ernie Volume 1 is a complete six-issue comic book from compiling Evil Ernie Issues #1-6. From the very beginning, I was hooked.

After death, moral souls rise to Heaven and join the ranks of God’s armies.
Immoral souls sink below and join the fight from the other side.
As everyone knows…
The good die young. –pg. 7 eARC

A young Ernest Fairchild walks a really, really long way to visit his incarcerated foster father, Buford King. Once there, “Evil Ernie” after appearing all sweet and innocent to the guards, goes bananas on Buford, stabbing him repeatedly in an attempt to end his life to complete a demonic rite of passage. Next, we jump ahead and see Ernie sitting in the electric chair. The youngest person in the USA to be executed in sixty years. By this point if your jaw isn’t dangling somewhere around your feet, you might as well stop reading. Because after this intense scene, the story takes another turn and there is nothing but death and destruction waiting for you until the very end. Blood. Gore. Violence. Lots of violence.

Now, I have to admit. This is an absolutely INSANE storyline. You see a battered kid who tries to do right, prays every night and then one day, just gives up. I felt sorry for Ernie. Especially in Issues #3 and #4 when he meets someone who tries to explain why his life is the way it is. You can see a tender side to him – despite all the crazy – and when the evil yellow smiley face kills said person, you can almost feel Ernie’s pain. He’s conflicted. Struggling with not only his internal demons but also the demon button (yea this sounds nuts right?). And his foster father is just an outright scumbag. But he’s an awesome villain…

Overall, I recommend this comic/graphic novel to those of you who don’t mind something a little unconventional. The artwork is decent but it’s the creepy characters who will keep you reading. Just make sure your stomach can handle what your eyes are about to see. Don’t say I didn’t warn you though…

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hadn't heard of Evil Ernie before so can't compare to the original character but was giddily looking forward to this as Dynamite has become one of my favourite publishers and Snider is the author of my absolute treasured Toy Story graphic novels. This did not disappoint me. It is a fun, violent romp of murder and demon possession. Evil Ernie is a bad guy, really bad, who is kind of trying to do the right thing, as he sees it anyway and we don't feel all that bad for him, at times, as there is a character worse than him, the one he's trying to kill. But then Ernie is a mass murder, who has sold his soul to the devil, is swayed by the demon possessed smiley face button he wears and Ernie is way beyond redemption, so feeling sorry for him doesn't last too long. This is a good, entertaining horror story and Craig brings it to life with his awesome, gory artwork

[Sofia The Great · Rating 3 out of 5]

Evil Ernie was a kid on death row who killed 665 people. All evil people but nobody believed him. He was the only one who could tell who was evil and who was not. As the switch is turn on the electric chair, mayhem ensues, because Ernie doesn't just die. He comes with evil powers back to finish the job. i:e: killing his evil step-father, #666.
I thought the story was good and I liked the artwork. it kept me entertain. Also, I loved the evil smiley face button. Great side character.

I was given this graphic novel for a honest review from NetGalley.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loving the reboot so far! I've been reading the individual comics as they're published, and am loving every evil moment. Sadly, I can't find many past Evil Ernie comics on Goodreads.

Suffice to say I'm pretty pleased :)

[Louis DeFrancesco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cool story. I’d seen this character plenty of times in Wizard Magazine as I was growing up but never had an interest in reading the comics. But the origin story was fun to read. I’m looking forward to checking more Evil Ernie stories out.

[Doomedtolive · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm loving the artwork, but the changes to Ernie's origin story are kind of unnecessary.