by Emil Favila, Reporter

Up for review today is Titan Books’ Devil May Cry: The Chronicles of Vergil,  a prequel story leading up to the events in Capcom’s video game DMC: Devil May Cry. Not to be confused with the Devil May Cry series that started back in 2000 with a white haired Dante and his evil twin Vergil, the story is based on characters of the 2013 reboot of the franchise.

This time around, Dante is much younger and his brother Vergil, who is not his twin, are both trying to save humanity. The Chronicles of Vergil focuses on Vergil and a psychic medium named Kat a year before the events of the game. The story is written by Izu and is drawn by Patrik Pion and Robin Recht .

The story starts out with Dante, who is imprisoned in Hellfire.  Dante hears the voice of his father and is given the Rebellion, his father’s sword. The story then flashes over to Kat who is at a Virility event (filled with free soft drink samples) with her friend Kylian in Limbo City. Though she is not yet aware of her innate abilities, she is able to recognize the Virility workers as demons because of her psychic powers. Vergil, dressed as a masked man, attacks the Virility workers. He tells Kat he was able to spot her because of her dreams.  Kat is arrested on the spot by the police because they assume she is working with Vergil, who is a part of the Order.

Two days later, Kat is having a “nightmare” which is actually her being imprisoned in the Demon World. Vergil tells her while she’s sleeping to let him enter her “dream”. At that point Vergil is able to kill the demon stalking her and instructs her to wake up in the human world. He formerly introduces himself in the prison. He explains that he needs her help finding her brother Dante in the demon world, as she is the only one that can enter both world’s freely. She is still not convinced that demons are disguising themselves as humans so she calls the security guards. He instructs her at that point to let herself go and he will see the world for what it truly is. She then sees the security guards in demon form.

Vergil then instructs Kat to stay in Astral form because the guards plan to take her to Hellfire. She may not survive the torture if she stays in the human form so she goes along with Vergil in her Astral state in Limbo. Eventually, Vergil comes to her rescue. Kat is able to pinpoint Dante’s location by going to the Limbo side of the prison control room. At that point more demons arrive and to save her Vergil must use his Devil Trigger. A powerful move that is used to save her while at the same time destroying his humanity. They’ve grown fond of each other at this point. Vergil tells Kat that he can’t afford to use his Devil Trigger again so they must erase the memories of the past few days.

The art by Pion and Recht is actually pretty good in this two issue collected graphic novel. You can tell the characters apart and the colors are a nice blend of blue and red. The storytelling is as good as it can be, as the concept for the game story is pretty in depth. Consequently, you may have to reread the story or the very least browse back occasionally.  This is not really the fault of Izu, as he does the best job he can explaining a highly complex narrative.

Overall, I would say Devil May Cry: The Chronicles of Vergil was an enjoyable read. The artwork is beautifully done and if you are a fan of Devil May Cry you will enjoy this book. I liked the binding of the two issue mini series. It had a solid spine, ensuring its durability during page turns.  This book is a must read if you are planning to play the game, as it sets the events of Dante’s mission in DMC: Devil May Cry. I for one am excited to play the game now!

ComicsOnline.com gives Devil May Cry: The Chronicles of Vergil 5 out of 5 devil triggers!

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