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Demon #4
Demon
Immortal actuary Jimmy makes a startling discovery: Agent Hunter, his long-dead adversary, is actually alive and a demon himself! Hunter has spent the last century concocting a deadly trap for his nemesis, and he has the perfect bait: Jimmy's daughter, Sweet Pea. In the epic showdown to to end all epic showdowns, we finally reach the thrilling conclusion to this madcap series.
From the brilliant and profane mind of Jason Shiga, known for his high-concept comics work on the web and in print, comes a magnum opus: a four-volume mystery adventure about the shocking chaos (and astronomical body count) one highly rational and utterly sociopathic man can create in the world, given one simple supernatural power.
From the brilliant and profane mind of Jason Shiga, known for his high-concept comics work on the web and in print, comes a magnum opus: a four-volume mystery adventure about the shocking chaos (and astronomical body count) one highly rational and utterly sociopathic man can create in the world, given one simple supernatural power.
Paperback
First published November 7, 2017
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291 people want to read
About the author
Jason Shiga
21 books157 followersJason Shiga is an award-winning Asian American cartoonist from Oakland, California. Mr. Shiga's comics are known for their intricate, often "interactive" plots and occasionally random, unexpected violence. A mathematics major from the University of California at Berkeley, Mr. Shiga shares his love of logic and problem solving with his readers through puzzles, mysteries and unconventional narrative techniques.
Jason Shiga's life has been shrouded in mystery and speculation. According to his book jacket, he was a reclusive math genius who had died on the verge of his greatest discovery in June 1967. However, upon winning a 2003 Eisner award for talent deserving of wider recognition, a man claiming to be Jason Shiga appeared in front of an audience alive and well only to tell them that he had been living on an island in the South China Seas for the past 40 years. The man who accepted his award was Chris Brandt (also known as F.C. Brandt), who had disguised himself as Jason Shiga, and accepted the award at the behest of Jason's publisher (Dylan Williams of Sparkplug Comic Books) and Jason himself.
At the age of 12, Shiga was the 7th highest ranked child go player in Oakland.[citation needed]
Jason Shiga makes a cameo appearance in the Derek Kirk Kim comic, "Ungrateful Appreciation" as a Rubik's Cube-solving nerd. Shiga is credited as the "Maze Specialist" for Issue 18 (Winter 2005/2006) of the literary journal McSweeney's Quarterly, which features a solved maze on the front cover and a (slightly different) unsolved maze on the back. The title page of each story in the journal is headed by a maze segment labeled with numbers leading to the first pages of other stories.
Jason Shiga's father, Seiji Shiga, was an animator who worked on the 1964 Rankin-Bass production Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
Jason Shiga's life has been shrouded in mystery and speculation. According to his book jacket, he was a reclusive math genius who had died on the verge of his greatest discovery in June 1967. However, upon winning a 2003 Eisner award for talent deserving of wider recognition, a man claiming to be Jason Shiga appeared in front of an audience alive and well only to tell them that he had been living on an island in the South China Seas for the past 40 years. The man who accepted his award was Chris Brandt (also known as F.C. Brandt), who had disguised himself as Jason Shiga, and accepted the award at the behest of Jason's publisher (Dylan Williams of Sparkplug Comic Books) and Jason himself.
At the age of 12, Shiga was the 7th highest ranked child go player in Oakland.[citation needed]
Jason Shiga makes a cameo appearance in the Derek Kirk Kim comic, "Ungrateful Appreciation" as a Rubik's Cube-solving nerd. Shiga is credited as the "Maze Specialist" for Issue 18 (Winter 2005/2006) of the literary journal McSweeney's Quarterly, which features a solved maze on the front cover and a (slightly different) unsolved maze on the back. The title page of each story in the journal is headed by a maze segment labeled with numbers leading to the first pages of other stories.
Jason Shiga's father, Seiji Shiga, was an animator who worked on the 1964 Rankin-Bass production Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 78 reviews
February 16, 2018
It’s Jimmy and Sweetpea vs Hunter for the fate of the world in the last book in Jason Shiga’s Demon series. And it’s an absolute corker to go out on!
I won’t even pretend to remember why Jimmy/Sweetpea are trying to stop Hunter, or vice versa, as the exposition got a bit too convoluted in the last book; but it doesn’t really matter – one side wants to kill the other and that’s good enough!
The thing about Demon is that the extremely complicated, albeit imaginatively constructed, setups Shiga concocts can come off less like storytelling and more like a bonkers maths problem - such is the effect of reading the first act of Volume 4. And, while I admire the skill behind it, like I might a particularly well-constructed spreadsheet, it isn’t exactly much fun to read!
Thankfully, once Jimmy and Sweetpea start planning their assault on Osaka Castle to kill Hunter, things get ridiculously fun and stay really great until the end. I’m not even kidding, from the training montage on I was grinning the whole time – even laughing every now and then – because it was so utterly batshit silly! Shiga’s simplistic art style and grunted action movie-esque dialogue (“Fuck yeah!” says Jimmy as he bashes his head in with a baseball bat!) definitely add effectively to the comedy.
Demon, Volume 4 is a very entertaining finale to an excellent series. I read a lot of comics and I’ve read very few as creative or original as Jason Shiga’s Demon - highly recommended.
I won’t even pretend to remember why Jimmy/Sweetpea are trying to stop Hunter, or vice versa, as the exposition got a bit too convoluted in the last book; but it doesn’t really matter – one side wants to kill the other and that’s good enough!
The thing about Demon is that the extremely complicated, albeit imaginatively constructed, setups Shiga concocts can come off less like storytelling and more like a bonkers maths problem - such is the effect of reading the first act of Volume 4. And, while I admire the skill behind it, like I might a particularly well-constructed spreadsheet, it isn’t exactly much fun to read!
Thankfully, once Jimmy and Sweetpea start planning their assault on Osaka Castle to kill Hunter, things get ridiculously fun and stay really great until the end. I’m not even kidding, from the training montage on I was grinning the whole time – even laughing every now and then – because it was so utterly batshit silly! Shiga’s simplistic art style and grunted action movie-esque dialogue (“Fuck yeah!” says Jimmy as he bashes his head in with a baseball bat!) definitely add effectively to the comedy.
Demon, Volume 4 is a very entertaining finale to an excellent series. I read a lot of comics and I’ve read very few as creative or original as Jason Shiga’s Demon - highly recommended.
July 4, 2018
Demon, Volume 4, completes this off the wall comics series about a demon, Jimmy Yee, and his (also demon) daughter. Jimmy has been a demon for over 400 years and wants to not to be one anymore. The problem is, every time he commits he inhabits the body of the human nearest to him. Agent Hunter wants to enlist this man who can’t die for the military. This is the basic situation, an audacious and (likely) offensive premise leading to a high body count.
Jimmy suggests that there might be a point about violence in his series, but then backs away from that. In his note at the end he admits he is basically a nihilist. Still, I am not easily offended, and found some of it funny. Maybe not four volumes funny, but amusing in a depraved and juvenile outrageous way. I couldn’t follow the plot, really, I’ll admit that, but I think it is mainly about this crazy premise. The third volume I thought was flat and this volume is basically a gory action sequence bloodbath, but hey, I was engaged and I won’t say I’m sorry! 4 stars for the series, not this particular volume, but it does finish things off!
Jimmy suggests that there might be a point about violence in his series, but then backs away from that. In his note at the end he admits he is basically a nihilist. Still, I am not easily offended, and found some of it funny. Maybe not four volumes funny, but amusing in a depraved and juvenile outrageous way. I couldn’t follow the plot, really, I’ll admit that, but I think it is mainly about this crazy premise. The third volume I thought was flat and this volume is basically a gory action sequence bloodbath, but hey, I was engaged and I won’t say I’m sorry! 4 stars for the series, not this particular volume, but it does finish things off!
first-second-publications
November 8, 2017Demon follows Jimmy Yee, a man who cannot die, no matter how hard he tries. Although he’s seemingly immortal, Jimmy’s real super power is his brain. He’s a highly analytical mathematical genius, and he has no qualms about leaving a massive bodycount behind as he attempts to unravel this bizarre this mystery.This is the 4th and final book.
February 6, 2018
4 stars for this volume is kind of generous tbh - Demon lost steam for me at volume 3 - but 4 stars sums up how I feel about this series as a whole. It was a fucking crazy, ridiculous, but ultimately fun ride and I don't regret reading it.
I won't go into details about the plot (because of spoilers), but if you've read any of the previous volumes, you'll know what to expect: gore, lots of killing, fight scenes, more gore, and some math (kind of) thrown in. There's also some parallel worlds in the mix in this volume, because why not.
One of my biggest issues with this volume is that the action scenes felt like they were rehashed from volume 3. There are some setups that Jason and Sweetpea need to work out that are pretty much identical to the previous volume, so it felt kind of redundant. The action scenes are still fun and disgusting though, so that was a plus.
I honestly don't have much more to say! If you're okay with Shiga's dark sense of humour and don't mind the gore I would heartily recommend this series.
I won't go into details about the plot (because of spoilers), but if you've read any of the previous volumes, you'll know what to expect: gore, lots of killing, fight scenes, more gore, and some math (kind of) thrown in. There's also some parallel worlds in the mix in this volume, because why not.
One of my biggest issues with this volume is that the action scenes felt like they were rehashed from volume 3. There are some setups that Jason and Sweetpea need to work out that are pretty much identical to the previous volume, so it felt kind of redundant. The action scenes are still fun and disgusting though, so that was a plus.
I honestly don't have much more to say! If you're okay with Shiga's dark sense of humour and don't mind the gore I would heartily recommend this series.
January 12, 2019
The slaughter comes to a conclusion with a bang and a whimper as the finale continues to make imaginative use of its central concept of immortality for action sequences but leads to a confusing and muddled ending. Still, it's a fun thrill ride up till then.
May 26, 2018
What a rollicking finish. After an, ahem, VERY eye-opening return to the game, Jimmy rejoins Sweet Pea and they put together a madcap plan to take down Hunter once and for all. THAT'S how you wrap up a series, dammit.
Sweet Pea finally deciphers the mysterious ring that "demons" briefly see when they die, and this knowledge allows her to essentially clone herself. Which comes in handy when challenging a castle defended by an army of club-wielding amputees, conjoined twins, and Israeli commando demons.
Damn, this was fun.
Plot points:
Sweet Pea finally deciphers the mysterious ring that "demons" briefly see when they die, and this knowledge allows her to essentially clone herself. Which comes in handy when challenging a castle defended by an army of club-wielding amputees, conjoined twins, and Israeli commando demons.
Damn, this was fun.
Plot points:
July 11, 2022
To reiterate my one comment while reading this last volume in the series: I finished reading this book the morning after it was delivered to me. I wanted to write a substantial review/essay about (against) nihilism. But i'm not qualified to write a substantial review/essay about nihilism. So i imagined studying philosophy until i was qualified. But i'm not motivated enough to go to graduate school to study philosophy. Therefore, Jimmy Yee must be correct: life is meaningless.
A few more pages of quibbling spoiler notes specific to this volume are below. Again, if you liked this series, just skip it unless you're willing to point out where i've misunderstood something, in which case i'd really appreciate your help cuz i liked this series at first before developing a strong distaste for its message/s. I want to like it but i just can't like it even though i respect all the work Mr Shiga put into it.
A few more pages of quibbling spoiler notes specific to this volume are below. Again, if you liked this series, just skip it unless you're willing to point out where i've misunderstood something, in which case i'd really appreciate your help cuz i liked this series at first before developing a strong distaste for its message/s. I want to like it but i just can't like it even though i respect all the work Mr Shiga put into it.
July 1, 2024
Agent Hunter had become a demon before he died! He's now been around for hundreds of years devising a plan to create world peace - by having his loyal demons take over all the world's leaders. Jimmy, the depraved mass murderer... wants to still have representative democracy.
It gets a bit convoluted with how insane Agent Hunter's facility is and Jimmy's plan to get inside. The ending battle scene is pretty great. Pure insanity and something you could really only pull off in a comic book.
It gets a bit convoluted with how insane Agent Hunter's facility is and Jimmy's plan to get inside. The ending battle scene is pretty great. Pure insanity and something you could really only pull off in a comic book.
April 19, 2025
What a mess this was.
Demon started off with such an unique and auspicious premise; a schlub named Jimmy has the rare ability to inhabit people's bodies over and over again when he realizes he can't commit suicide.
Basically, he can't die.
Throw in a relentless federal agent named Hunter working for a covert government agency, a somewhat garbled but okay-I-can-still-suspend-dislief-for-this-backstory as to how Jimmy is who he is, and Hunter's plans for a utopian society straight out of an Orwell novel and the story moved along, more or less.
But Volume 4 was a huge disappointment.
** Spoilers ahead but it won't affect the non-enjoyment of reading this final volume **
This was nothing more than a bloody, chaotic mess with mayhem and a silly, completely unbelievable explanation of how Jimmy and daughter Sweetpea infiltrates Hunter's government fortress in Osaka. For a moment, I expected Gerard Butler to make an appearance. That might have been amusing, at least.
In the end, Jimmy is still a dick, he hasn't really learned anything or evolved spiritually, emotionally and mentally and I still don't understand how his father's $500 donation makes sense or proves he had an existential awakening and finally died a peaceful life. In a way, that was harder to swallow than the last 50 pages of the Prison Break Jimmy and Sweetpea engineers with their 100 clones.
I think I can see how Mr. Shiga wanted to end Jimmy's story but there had to be a better way. I don't know what that way might have been but it was definitely not the drivel Volume 4 turned out to be.
Demon started off with such an unique and auspicious premise; a schlub named Jimmy has the rare ability to inhabit people's bodies over and over again when he realizes he can't commit suicide.
Basically, he can't die.
Throw in a relentless federal agent named Hunter working for a covert government agency, a somewhat garbled but okay-I-can-still-suspend-dislief-for-this-backstory as to how Jimmy is who he is, and Hunter's plans for a utopian society straight out of an Orwell novel and the story moved along, more or less.
But Volume 4 was a huge disappointment.
** Spoilers ahead but it won't affect the non-enjoyment of reading this final volume **
This was nothing more than a bloody, chaotic mess with mayhem and a silly, completely unbelievable explanation of how Jimmy and daughter Sweetpea infiltrates Hunter's government fortress in Osaka. For a moment, I expected Gerard Butler to make an appearance. That might have been amusing, at least.
In the end, Jimmy is still a dick, he hasn't really learned anything or evolved spiritually, emotionally and mentally and I still don't understand how his father's $500 donation makes sense or proves he had an existential awakening and finally died a peaceful life. In a way, that was harder to swallow than the last 50 pages of the Prison Break Jimmy and Sweetpea engineers with their 100 clones.
I think I can see how Mr. Shiga wanted to end Jimmy's story but there had to be a better way. I don't know what that way might have been but it was definitely not the drivel Volume 4 turned out to be.
November 25, 2017
I'm going to be very honest --- I don't understand what the &%$#@ is happening in this book. Yes, the overall plot is fairly straightforward with some massively intricate and often funny action scenes. Yes, it's incredibly dark and bloody, but that's been true of all the volumes. And there's an epilogue that I mostly like.
It's just that this is a Shiga story, so there's a puzzle, and I can't figure out his explanation of the solution. There's a diagram in the middle of the book that's supposed to explain some crucial plot elements. I read that diagram (and the page around it) several times and thought I understood it, only to have subsequent events convince me I had it wrong. So this volume, while somewhat emotionally satisfying, left me fairly frustrated. I really wish Shiga had toned down the hyper-violence and nihilism for a couple of pages of understandable exposition.
It's just that this is a Shiga story, so there's a puzzle, and I can't figure out his explanation of the solution. There's a diagram in the middle of the book that's supposed to explain some crucial plot elements. I read that diagram (and the page around it) several times and thought I understood it, only to have subsequent events convince me I had it wrong. So this volume, while somewhat emotionally satisfying, left me fairly frustrated. I really wish Shiga had toned down the hyper-violence and nihilism for a couple of pages of understandable exposition.
March 3, 2018
Well, it's over at last. The last volume in the Demon series ended on a low note. Nonsensical, nihilistic, and filled with pointless gore. That's a genre some will love, but it was not for me.
January 8, 2020
Well, it picked up a little from how I felt with volume 3, but honestly this series just wasn't for me.
November 20, 2022
An excellent series! Non stop action with more sick violence packed into graphic form than you think ever could be possible.
It's not.
It's certainly an interesting way to save the world ..... well ..... sort of save the world I suppose. It's well calculated and doesn't beat around the bush despite the odds of a successful operation.
It's a wonderfully weird and sick novel but that oddly makes it all the more delightful.
It's not.
It's certainly an interesting way to save the world ..... well ..... sort of save the world I suppose. It's well calculated and doesn't beat around the bush despite the odds of a successful operation.
It's a wonderfully weird and sick novel but that oddly makes it all the more delightful.
June 2, 2020
Es una conclusión
A pesar de que disfrute y recomiendo los 3 volúmenes anteriores, fue muy tedioso terminar este. Quizás fue la enorme cantidad de exposición o simplemente que me harté del concepto, pero si disfrutaste Demon 1, 2 y 3, leer este es la conclusión lógica.
A pesar de que disfrute y recomiendo los 3 volúmenes anteriores, fue muy tedioso terminar este. Quizás fue la enorme cantidad de exposición o simplemente que me harté del concepto, pero si disfrutaste Demon 1, 2 y 3, leer este es la conclusión lógica.
December 27, 2017
This final act is all murder and destruction. Not quite a patch on the first half of the series, but a high-action cap to it with some lingering moral afterthoughts.
March 16, 2017
Oh wow - the finale really takes it over the top and ties it all together (I didn't even realize I wanted/needed it to be tied together, but I did). Some questions left, but those are mostly moral that are good leads to leave with readers. Really sold series.
November 13, 2017
A gloriously gory bloodbath of an ending. At this point, it's way too complicated to get into the plot. However, Jimmy and Sweetpea have their final battle of carnage with Hunter. Who really wins in the end??
April 23, 2018
A more satisfying ending here than what I was anticipating.
September 13, 2021
https://openbooksociety.com/article/t...
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Scott
Summary:
Immortal actuary Jimmy makes a startling discovery: Agent Hunter, his long-dead adversary, is actually alive and a demon himself! Hunter has spent the last century concocting a deadly trap for his nemesis, and he has the perfect bait: Jimmy’s daughter, Sweet Pea. In the epic showdown to end all epic showdowns, we finally reach the thrilling conclusion to this madcap series.
From the brilliant and profane mind of Jason Shiga, known for his high-concept comics work on the web and in print, comes a magnum opus: a four-volume mystery adventure about the shocking chaos (and astronomical body count) one highly rational and utterly sociopathic man can create in the world, given one simple supernatural power.
Review:
Picking up where Volume 3 left off, Jason Shiga’s tour de force The Demon ends in Volume 4 of this seminal series. Almost starting as a what if? in Volume 1, Shiga has shown the versatility of the comics medium in capturing an idea and a plot and showing the viewer the precise picture they had in mind. What a mind that could explore the depths of The Demon. Picking up from volume 3’s closure, there is no time wasted in picking up the pace as Volume 4 pins you to your seat and doesn’t let up until the ride is over.
The dialogue Is punchy – to the point. Gone are the philosophical waxing of the 3rd volume and born are the fruits and labors of 100 and so years that have passed. The sheer shrewdness and diabolical twists bring an almost wry smile from the reader as Jimmy Lee and Sweet Pea plot their revenge. Everything is either shown or said. The dialogue is true to form (whatever the form may be at any given moment) and lingers on well after the last page in which the demon is no more.
If Volume 3 was Shiga at his finest then Volume 4 is Shiga’s tour de force. The plot is incredibly well orchestrated, and no panel is wasted. The pacing is frenetic and over the top in some places. Plotting intricate and uncannily devious machinations, Shiga proves that he is not out of ideas yet – everything has been thought through. The tiniest detail has been given credence to, and everything plays out in a panel or two. By far the most ambitious of the Volumes this one does not pull any punches as the plot dive bombs into an explosive ending.
Complementing the hard-hitting prose is the artwork, once again proving that more can be said with less. The artwork displays often vulgar and over the top violent pieces, but they are mitigated by the simplicity of form and function. It bears repeating – no panel is wasted. Each drawing brings the reader on a thrill ride through the racing plot and all the detail needed in the panel is there for the reader to absorb. There is not a single piece of information that muddies the water in this graphic novel.The Demon’s audience is, shall we say, discerning. In toto, the four volumes of the Demon will appeal to those who like their bread toasted. That crunch is what makes the Demon. Without fail, past readers of the Demon Volumes 1 through 3 will find the transition into Volume 4 to be par for course and maybe a bit surprising. I highly recommend The Demon, by Jason Shiga to be given a once through, especially if you are a graphic novel fanatic who wants to give a new story a spin. Let it be The Demon Volumes 1 through 4, you will either laud it or despise it. The lasting question is what part of your inner Demon are you despising?
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Scott
Summary:
Immortal actuary Jimmy makes a startling discovery: Agent Hunter, his long-dead adversary, is actually alive and a demon himself! Hunter has spent the last century concocting a deadly trap for his nemesis, and he has the perfect bait: Jimmy’s daughter, Sweet Pea. In the epic showdown to end all epic showdowns, we finally reach the thrilling conclusion to this madcap series.
From the brilliant and profane mind of Jason Shiga, known for his high-concept comics work on the web and in print, comes a magnum opus: a four-volume mystery adventure about the shocking chaos (and astronomical body count) one highly rational and utterly sociopathic man can create in the world, given one simple supernatural power.
Review:
Picking up where Volume 3 left off, Jason Shiga’s tour de force The Demon ends in Volume 4 of this seminal series. Almost starting as a what if? in Volume 1, Shiga has shown the versatility of the comics medium in capturing an idea and a plot and showing the viewer the precise picture they had in mind. What a mind that could explore the depths of The Demon. Picking up from volume 3’s closure, there is no time wasted in picking up the pace as Volume 4 pins you to your seat and doesn’t let up until the ride is over.
The dialogue Is punchy – to the point. Gone are the philosophical waxing of the 3rd volume and born are the fruits and labors of 100 and so years that have passed. The sheer shrewdness and diabolical twists bring an almost wry smile from the reader as Jimmy Lee and Sweet Pea plot their revenge. Everything is either shown or said. The dialogue is true to form (whatever the form may be at any given moment) and lingers on well after the last page in which the demon is no more.
If Volume 3 was Shiga at his finest then Volume 4 is Shiga’s tour de force. The plot is incredibly well orchestrated, and no panel is wasted. The pacing is frenetic and over the top in some places. Plotting intricate and uncannily devious machinations, Shiga proves that he is not out of ideas yet – everything has been thought through. The tiniest detail has been given credence to, and everything plays out in a panel or two. By far the most ambitious of the Volumes this one does not pull any punches as the plot dive bombs into an explosive ending.
Complementing the hard-hitting prose is the artwork, once again proving that more can be said with less. The artwork displays often vulgar and over the top violent pieces, but they are mitigated by the simplicity of form and function. It bears repeating – no panel is wasted. Each drawing brings the reader on a thrill ride through the racing plot and all the detail needed in the panel is there for the reader to absorb. There is not a single piece of information that muddies the water in this graphic novel.The Demon’s audience is, shall we say, discerning. In toto, the four volumes of the Demon will appeal to those who like their bread toasted. That crunch is what makes the Demon. Without fail, past readers of the Demon Volumes 1 through 3 will find the transition into Volume 4 to be par for course and maybe a bit surprising. I highly recommend The Demon, by Jason Shiga to be given a once through, especially if you are a graphic novel fanatic who wants to give a new story a spin. Let it be The Demon Volumes 1 through 4, you will either laud it or despise it. The lasting question is what part of your inner Demon are you despising?
July 24, 2017
This review originally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 3.0 of 5
Jason Shiga finishes off his unusual graphic novel series, Demon, with this, the fourth issue.
Jimmy Yee is a man cursed(?)/blessed(?) with a power that prevents him from dying. He discovers this fact when, about as far down on his luck as a man can get, he tries to kill himself. The essence of Jimmy is then transferred to the nearest human. One man seems to understand what Jimmy is and what he can do, but despite his best efforts to capture Jimmy, Agent Hunter isn't able to contain Jimmy since Jimmy simply kills himself when trapped so that he can take over another body.
Now, over the course of nearly 400 years, Agent Hunter shows that he, too, is a Demon possessed and has spent the last century planning and preparing for the one way to eliminate Jimmy. And Hunter uses Jimmy's Demon daughter, Sweetpea, as the bait.
But whereas Hunter has used the centuries to build the perfect fortress, Jimmy and Sweetpea have used the same hundred years to prepare a way into the fortress and exact revenge on Hunter.
The first two issues of this series were tremendous. Shiga walked the reader into a strange situation without explaining what he was doing, letting the reader figure it out. There was quite a story to unravel and the books took the reader on a roller-coaster journey with plenty of death and destruction along the way.
But these last two issues changed it up. There's less story, more death and destruction and depravity, and all mostly without purpose. This volume steps it back up a step, with each of our three main characters driven by a goal, but the book still feels as though it's padded with filler, boring me for the most part.
The story does wrap up, which was a nice surprise, but I had stopped caring. I was interested initially because I wanted to know what was happening and why. Once those questions were answered, the series became a story about a cat and mouse game between Jimmy and Hunter (want to guess what role 'Hunter' played?) and this was much less interesting because really there wasn't much to describe except the constant evisceration or decapitation of a few billion people. The entire planet became a breeding ground for slaughter for a couple of people who were trying to best one another.
If Shiga's 'point' behind this book was to show just how much we've become inured to violence and depravity, then he's succeeded. If he's simply trying to entertain ... mmmm, he's succeeded only to a point, and then passed us by.
I was glad to have read this series, but have been left unimpressed.
Looking for a good book? Demon, Volume 4 by Jason Shiga finishes off the series, and humanity as well. It's worth reading if you've started the series, but not recommended.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
Jason Shiga finishes off his unusual graphic novel series, Demon, with this, the fourth issue.
Jimmy Yee is a man cursed(?)/blessed(?) with a power that prevents him from dying. He discovers this fact when, about as far down on his luck as a man can get, he tries to kill himself. The essence of Jimmy is then transferred to the nearest human. One man seems to understand what Jimmy is and what he can do, but despite his best efforts to capture Jimmy, Agent Hunter isn't able to contain Jimmy since Jimmy simply kills himself when trapped so that he can take over another body.
Now, over the course of nearly 400 years, Agent Hunter shows that he, too, is a Demon possessed and has spent the last century planning and preparing for the one way to eliminate Jimmy. And Hunter uses Jimmy's Demon daughter, Sweetpea, as the bait.
But whereas Hunter has used the centuries to build the perfect fortress, Jimmy and Sweetpea have used the same hundred years to prepare a way into the fortress and exact revenge on Hunter.
The first two issues of this series were tremendous. Shiga walked the reader into a strange situation without explaining what he was doing, letting the reader figure it out. There was quite a story to unravel and the books took the reader on a roller-coaster journey with plenty of death and destruction along the way.
But these last two issues changed it up. There's less story, more death and destruction and depravity, and all mostly without purpose. This volume steps it back up a step, with each of our three main characters driven by a goal, but the book still feels as though it's padded with filler, boring me for the most part.
The story does wrap up, which was a nice surprise, but I had stopped caring. I was interested initially because I wanted to know what was happening and why. Once those questions were answered, the series became a story about a cat and mouse game between Jimmy and Hunter (want to guess what role 'Hunter' played?) and this was much less interesting because really there wasn't much to describe except the constant evisceration or decapitation of a few billion people. The entire planet became a breeding ground for slaughter for a couple of people who were trying to best one another.
If Shiga's 'point' behind this book was to show just how much we've become inured to violence and depravity, then he's succeeded. If he's simply trying to entertain ... mmmm, he's succeeded only to a point, and then passed us by.
I was glad to have read this series, but have been left unimpressed.
Looking for a good book? Demon, Volume 4 by Jason Shiga finishes off the series, and humanity as well. It's worth reading if you've started the series, but not recommended.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
November 3, 2017
Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy.
I've been interested in how this series ends since the first volume of DEMON, but the fourth and final volume didn't really live up to the potential I felt it had. Gory and violent, the story seems to devolve into a question of what can kill the most people the fastest.
I wouldn't recommend picking up this volume of DEMON if you've not read the first three. They're very much interconnected, and they're quick reads, so if you're interested, definitely start at the beginning. There is a brief, one page recap at the beginning of this volume, but otherwise we're plunged right into the story.
The concept itself is quite interesting, and the story takes some interesting turns, but not enough time is spent, in my opinion, on the world building and too much time is spent on the violence. There were a few times where I was just left wondering "but why is it like that?" when I was reading, and while I understand a graphic novel has less time/space to do what prose can do, the violence really started to grate on my nerves when there was so much of it with other things left unsaid.
Overall, the series is creative and worth a read. Though the conclusion wasn't as satisfying as it could have been, I was still interested in how the story ended. Taking it as a whole, it's definitely worth a read. This volume alone though, not so much.
Sexual content: N/A
I've been interested in how this series ends since the first volume of DEMON, but the fourth and final volume didn't really live up to the potential I felt it had. Gory and violent, the story seems to devolve into a question of what can kill the most people the fastest.
I wouldn't recommend picking up this volume of DEMON if you've not read the first three. They're very much interconnected, and they're quick reads, so if you're interested, definitely start at the beginning. There is a brief, one page recap at the beginning of this volume, but otherwise we're plunged right into the story.
The concept itself is quite interesting, and the story takes some interesting turns, but not enough time is spent, in my opinion, on the world building and too much time is spent on the violence. There were a few times where I was just left wondering "but why is it like that?" when I was reading, and while I understand a graphic novel has less time/space to do what prose can do, the violence really started to grate on my nerves when there was so much of it with other things left unsaid.
Overall, the series is creative and worth a read. Though the conclusion wasn't as satisfying as it could have been, I was still interested in how the story ended. Taking it as a whole, it's definitely worth a read. This volume alone though, not so much.
Sexual content: N/A
December 22, 2017
This was such a confusing finale to the series. Each volume just kept getting crazier and crazier. I was getting more excited with each closing chapter. But this book left me unsatisfied and with more questions than ever. Jimmy and Sweet Pea are gearing up for one last showdown. They need to stop agent Hunter from achieving his plan of creating a functioning utopia on Earth. They have to pull out all the stops to stop this global domination. So of course that means a lot of people are gonna die.
I completely loved the fighting scenes that happened at the stronghold. It was so creative and fun. But once Jimmy achieved the impossible, the book lost its footing. I felt like it should have ended right then and there. But the religious revelation didn’t resonate with me or make any sense. I vaguely remember what was said in the second volume about how a demon can possess someone without killing themselves. So what I get from the ending is that Jimmy and Sweet pea will “move on” in a months’ time since they saved the world. But we’ll never find out.
I completely loved the fighting scenes that happened at the stronghold. It was so creative and fun. But once Jimmy achieved the impossible, the book lost its footing. I felt like it should have ended right then and there. But the religious revelation didn’t resonate with me or make any sense. I vaguely remember what was said in the second volume about how a demon can possess someone without killing themselves. So what I get from the ending is that Jimmy and Sweet pea will “move on” in a months’ time since they saved the world. But we’ll never find out.
February 2, 2025
Endings are tough, and though Demon, Volume 4 might be the weaker entry in the series, the entirety of the series is too great to diminish easily. Shiga's ambitious series of a father depressed at the loss of his family turned genocidal demon is an impressive feat of storytelling. The mechanics behind Jimmy's bizarre body possessing abilities have been thoroughly explored thus far, but Volume 4 notches things one rung higher. Jimmy and his daughter Sweetpea wage war on OSS Agent Hunter, who plans to use his own demonized forces to impose a peaceful but autocratic rule over the world. Working together, the father-daughter due unleash a hellish assault on Hunter's fortress, leaving legions dead on both sides. This volume is more or less one giant battle, gory to the extent that Shiga's artwork allows for.
A thoroughly engaging and thought-provoking series, I plan to seek out more of Shiga's work. This was my first comic read from him, and I was completely impressed.
A thoroughly engaging and thought-provoking series, I plan to seek out more of Shiga's work. This was my first comic read from him, and I was completely impressed.
February 9, 2018
The blurb on the cover says it all, "Bizarre, sick, funny and more than a little depraved, all of which is part of the charm."
This is the final (I think) volume in the series. Jimmy and his daughter Sweet Pea are still demons but have discovered that their mortal enemy Agent Hunter is ALSO a demon. They have a final showdown that results in a pile of bodies big enough to climb like a mountain. This is crazy, gross and lots of fun. I'm not even positive I've kept up with all the details but all you need to know is the final showdown includes a rebirth, a wall of prisoners, an army of peg legged men with baseball bats, conjoined twins and Israeli commando demons. There is a time limit to getting past all these guards before Agent Hunter takes over the world. Will Jimmy and Sweet Pea prevail? Read it yourself to find out...there will be no spoilers here.
This is the final (I think) volume in the series. Jimmy and his daughter Sweet Pea are still demons but have discovered that their mortal enemy Agent Hunter is ALSO a demon. They have a final showdown that results in a pile of bodies big enough to climb like a mountain. This is crazy, gross and lots of fun. I'm not even positive I've kept up with all the details but all you need to know is the final showdown includes a rebirth, a wall of prisoners, an army of peg legged men with baseball bats, conjoined twins and Israeli commando demons. There is a time limit to getting past all these guards before Agent Hunter takes over the world. Will Jimmy and Sweet Pea prevail? Read it yourself to find out...there will be no spoilers here.
September 26, 2017
Demon Volume 4 was slightly less satisfying than I expected. Demon is a series built on outdoing itself at every opportunity, increasing shock value at every turn. The final volume didn't seem to manage anything new or surprising, instead the focus was on wrapping up the story. I enjoyed the way the narrative played with the idea of villains and heroes, Jimmy and Sweetpea are saving the world from becoming a Utopia by destroying it. This series was interesting and definitely a journey into a dark imagination, I would recommend this to individuals who appreciate a very dark and creative world.
I received a digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.
I received a digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.
December 8, 2017
A fitting conclusion to the saga. This series is most fun to me because of the intricate ways that the demon power is used to do interesting things (often things breaking taboos). This volume does not disappoint in that regard. However, it is probably a good thing that the series has come to a close since the inventiveness meter has definitely dropped in this volume. Whether that is because I am now familiar with the basic mechanisms so novelly explored in the first three volumes or because Shiga is finally running out of ideas, I don't know. Does it really matter? Regardless, I found this volume and this series immensely satisfying.
December 3, 2017
This was quite an insane finale to a fantastic 4-part series. Not my favorite of the four, but you gotta end is somewhere. And the last page had me "WTF?!" but in a good way. Sometimes it is better to not tie things up in a nice bow but let the reader/audience sit and think and decide how they feel about it all.
Fans of really weird stuff should pick this up, but be ready for insane violence, surprise nudity and some perverted (yet kind of hilarious) moments.
Fans of really weird stuff should pick this up, but be ready for insane violence, surprise nudity and some perverted (yet kind of hilarious) moments.
January 6, 2018
If you've made it this far into the Demon series, it makes sense to finish it off. But be prepared for more of the same. Immortal Jimmy decides to defeat Agent Hunter once and for all because, you know, there wouldn't be a story otherwise. Most of the book is occupied with the grand battle for Hunter's Japanese fortress. It's all fairly clever, as usual, but nothing you haven't seen or been shocked by in the previous volumes.
March 11, 2018
I can’t decide if this series is brilliantly disturbing or just disturbing. I even recommended it to a friend today, though I can’t say for sure that I am glad I read it. The puzzle-solving is interesting and the premise is too, but in the end, it seemed like a one-note solo played over and over again. This might be a series that I appreciate thinking about later more than I actually enjoyed reading.
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