Review: Devil On Her Shoulder 1. The Bruja Is Missing!

From Europe Comics, the first issue of a new series - The Devil On Her Shoulder issue one - The Bruja Is Missing!

Hell and damnation! The Bruja is missing! When the most powerful witch alive disappears without a trace, Norah, her 17-year-old niece, decides to investigate. But upon entering her aunt’s manor, she interrupts a summoning ritual and finds herself face to face with the devil… Or half of him, anyway, as he has been cut in two and is now stuck in a pentagram. Unable to return to Hell without Norah’s help, Lucifer agrees to assist her in finding the Bruja—a devilish task when you’re the most feared and hated being on the planet!

Script by Cédric Mayen - Art by Sandra Cardona

Starting a new series in a new world is always fun. You have to learn the rules. And in this new series, there is a lot to take in - although you're not sure how much you can trust.

That is because it features the Devil. Literally on Norah's shoulder - as the name suggests. The thing is with the Devil is that we know not to trust him. There are always schemes within schemes and that goes for any other demons below him.

He does cut a sympathetic character though and as a guide through the trials and tribulations in this issue, he is quite amusing. Norah too is an excellent character. She doesn't have too much magic about her, can't fly a broom and is looking for her Aunt, who disappeared on a trip. At first, I thought her disappearance was something more 'normal' (although funny), but it seems there is more than that to it.

Her disappearance causes an interesting chain of events where the Devil is summoned by one of Norah's Aunt's minor demons. This causes a problem for the Devil as the summoning is interrupted and he is stuck between worlds.

After an agreement of sorts, Norah and the Devil come to an arrangement to find Norah's Aunt. We then not only get a tour of Hell, but also the town that Norah lives and some of the important supporting characters.

These characters are pretty interesting in themselves, with other Witches (family members of Norah) and other Demons - some you would maybe recognise and others. I like the scheming between the demons and that is to be expected.

It seems that the other witches suspect something else is going on, and they may also cause Norah some problems in her quest.

There is some good humour here, I especially like the comment about Death's invisibility cloak and what may happen if it goes missing - some dark humour.

The art is excellent, with a good flowing feel to it all. The characters are well defined and I especially found some of the character introductions striking. There are some wonderful colours to the book too, and they add to the whole flavour of the story.

This is an excellent start to the story, with a good cliffhanger/tease ending to lead us into the next issue. Certainly enjoyable for younger readers.

You can get Devil On Her Shoulder 1. The Bruja Is Missing! from Europe Comics digitally here.