A Priest, in the form of a seemingly demonic entity, hears the confessions of truly remorseful people; though they’ve all done terrible things, they beg for forgiveness. By night the Priest, who’s been rejected by Heaven and exiled from Hell, enacts his own brand of violent justice upon the evildoers who cause so much pain to the easily led and the innocent.

Spillblood is a hyper-violent, uber-stylised walk on the wrong side of town; a cathartic blend of dark morality and gory justice. It’s rendered in stark black, white and red, with sketchy, scratchy imagery that makes the reader sit up and take notice, as holy bullets fly and the blood, as the title promises really does spill.

Writer Jonathan Hedrick has hit upon a seriously compelling formula in this one-shot, which makes me want to see much more of the Priest and his justified acts of violence against the dregs of society. Though it may be an incredibly simplistic morality play, that’s part of what makes it such an addictive and cathartic read. Artist Stefano Cardoselli brings an aura of genuinely surreal ambience to the story, splattering the page with simple blocks of blood amidst minimalist renderings of the characters involved; the deliberate lack of detail allowing your brain to fill in the gory blanks for itself.

It’s potentially stuff, and well worth picking up; especially as it arrives just in time for Halloween.

Spillblood #1, published by Keenspot, will be available from comic stores as of October 16th, 2024; be sure to pre-order yourself a copy at your friendly local comic store.

Many thanks to Jonathan Hedrick for providing me with a digital preview copy of Spillblood #1 for review purposes.