I’m into any comic that will rile up the Catholic Church: Image’s Nancy in Hell, Top Cow’s The Darkness, and now their series Magdalena. Don’t think that the book is stealing from the Da Vinci Code. The theory of Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene getting it on has been around (unpopular as it is) much longer than Dan Brown. Though not a personal believer in it, I find it much more realistic than the “angels spawning children including Lucifer himself” storyline that has been featured in numerous comics books and teen novels. But back to Magdalena, though it can be compared to the Da Vinci Code, I wasn’t as riled up over its awfulness as when I saw the film version of Mr. Brown’s book. Instead, I was intrigued.

Having to start on book #3 (Magdalena: Blood of the Lamb Part 3) of any series is a pain. You don’t know who the characters are, or what is happening.  However, Magdalena does a good job of catching up the audience to the action. I wasn’t as lost as I was in say Fathom: Blue Descent. The first thing that caught my eye was an early panel that shows several Magdalena warriors. All of them are women. I’m not a feminist, but even I was going “girl power”! Girl’s kicking demonic ass, now that’s what I call comic gold. But you may ask what the difference is between Patience, the current Magdalena, and Nancy Simmons, the star of the Nancy in Hell comics, which make my opinion of Patience so much greater. Patience questions herself; she appears more realistically human. You can empathize with someone who has to kill what appears to be a boy, but may in fact be the son of Satan.  

And that is essentially the plot of Magdalena. Patience returns to the Catholic Church to go after the Anti-Christ in The Omen form. I wonder if he’s named Dameon? Not exactly original, but like I said earlier, I love the questioning nature of our main character. Not much happens in book #3 to advance the plot. The dialogue is contrived and predictable, but not bad. 

What I love about Top Cow comics (or starting to love as I am a newcomer to the publisher’s work) is their artwork, especially in their use of color. Magdalena knows when to use color and when to use black to create a nice contrast from boldness to basic. Unlike The Darkness, the comic is not gory at all, and trust me, I didn’t miss it. I was questioning Patience’s costume choice (no capes!) until the demon used it against her. Obviously, the creators can read my mind or I can predict theirs, because even though the comic was obvious in its direction, it was still nonetheless entertaining. 

At this point, I hope to get my hands on Issue #1 and #2 to learn more about the relationship between Patience and her guardian, Kristoff. I also cannot wait for the inevitable showdown between Patience and her target. I’m hoping for a hell of a good time.