You may remember Possession as a standout from our review of Octal #2. The comic that manages to be equal parts forward thinking and retro-inspired is here with a full-length debut issue.

It’s refreshing to see a series so rooted in classic mythology to be such an inventive take on modern fantasy, and it’s with that in mind that Possession #1 is a delight to read. Writers Michael Norwitz and Mary Ann Vaupel weave a tale that feels uncompromising. That seems most obvious in the comic’s upfront depictions of sex and kink. It’s also in the way that the characters relate to one another.

The story features an ensemble cast. Despite it’s bouncing around it seems to settle on Javier and Astrid as its primary characters. Large character counts can often be at odds with a debut issue’s mission to craft emotional investment. Possession largely avoids this problem with how much a sense of mystery pervades the pages. Javier getting attacked by supernaturally influenced beings feels like a conspiracy-laden thriller. The edge of the world that Norwitz and Vaupel build makes all these combinations exciting.

In a lot of ways, Possession feels like the comic equivalent of the VHS of some forgotten cult classic that rides the line between sleaze and art in a way that you don’t get much of elsewhere.

On the visual end, artist Enrico Carnevale and colorist Andrea Blanco navigate the two halves of this comic adeptly. Possession fluctuates between a Greco-Roman pottery aesthetic like you’d see in Disney’s Hercules and a more straightforward indie comic grittiness, albeit with characters that pop more against their backgrounds. Carnevale exceeds in character models, with many of the panels having a sense of urgency through character positioning alone. Blanco’s fluctuations of color palette choices depending on the part of the comic.  

Possession #1 is available on Comixology now, and with quarterly releases over the next few years, now is a good time to jump into the story. It’s hard to not be excited for where the story goes. I’m eager to see how the mysteries the comic holds unfold. Ditto for learning more about the characters that populate this dense and lived-in world. You can follow the latest news for the series on Twitter and purchase it through Comixology.