Billy: Demon Slayer Series 2 #5
I’m going to try to read the last half of this series more quickly than I read the first half, as that may help with my generally crappy short term memory. At least it couldn’t hurt. This time around Billy has been taken over by something evil and his friends have been dragged to hell. That’s where we spend most of the issue: in hell, spending brief bits of time with its inhabitants while learning a bit more about the general master plan that’s been going on. It’s basically a transitional issue, in other words, but with important things still going on. I may not have mentioned this in past reviews (I could read them, but that would take actual effort, and I’m not fond of that), but I really enjoy Hayden’s “Where Are They Now?” segments at the back of each issue. Background characters are a constant feature of all books, and in a story like this, where there is very little time for huge amounts of character development, it makes me happy to see just how that one skull guy made it to hell in the first place. Yes, I’m aware that this is probably odd, but it tickles me every time. There’s not much left to say without spilling any beans. I do wish that there weren’t three white guys with similar haircuts as major parts of the action, as it takes a minute to tell them apart. Couple that with the genuinely crappy memory and it’s a problem. Still, that’s a minor quibble, and I’m enjoying the overall direction of this series, past complaints notwithstanding. When I get to the finale I’m going to read the whole thing again before posting a review. Best to be as informed as possible, right? $3.50
