Evil’s Return

    (Tokyopop, 2004-2005)
™ and © 2002 Lee Jong-Kyu & Hwain SHin
B&W

Seo Yumi, an 18-year-old schoolgirl, has her first menstrual cycle. A monk and a Catholic priest realize, “It has begun! We must protect her from Satan and his followers!” Cut to freshman Tae Chail, who leaves a trail of bodies in the halls as he beats up every boy he meets, to prove he is the high school’s new top dog. When he decides to make Yumi his girl, and this means getting past righteous Student President Sunwoo Hyun. Hyun is actually a young Buddhist acolyte assigned to protect Yumi from Satan’s possessed zombies, who intend to make her carry Satan’s child. Hyun senses that Chail is neutral, not actually evil, so he orders Chail to take Yumi to safety while he holds off the possessed students and teachers.

Evil’s Return features good art in what is starting out as a standard Rosemary’s Baby/Exorcist plot. And what is with Chail proving how tough he is by roaming through the school beating up every male student, with no teachers objecting or students trying to escape him? It may be fantasy, but let’s keep it believable.

— Fred Patten
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