Broken Frontier

An Egyptian slave rises to unexpected power as the origin of one of comics’ classic bad girls continues.

Huddling among ancient ruins, the crimson-skinned demoness Purgatori relates the sad tale of her origins to a mysterious man. Once she was merely an Egyptian named Sakkara, chafing under the yoke of slavery and abuse. All that changed the day she locked eyes with the beautiful Queen Nefertiti. Soon Sakkara found herself both handmaiden and lover to the queen, discovering pleasures she did not know existed. As the king sank into zealous obsession with the sun-god Aten, Sakkara saw the means to ensure Nefertiti would be hers forever….

Though taken with the ambiance of Purgatori #1, I was concerned that the lead character, a scantily clad bad girl, would not sustain my interest. That concern has been set aside after reading issue 2. Thus far, Purgatori has been a surprisingly good read, more so than I would have expected from a comic about a sexy vampire in a bikini. The story draws freely from both history and myth, spinning a tale of oppression, sex, and courtly intrigue that held my attention from page one. Sakkara’s rise from servitude and her growing possessiveness of the queen are well-handled and take the character down a dangerous road. The dialogue and narration are rich and exotic, particularly the king’s devoted prayer to Aten and the startling epiphany that results from this. I can’t reveal what that epiphany is but I will say that Egyptian history might have taken a vastly different path without the twist at the end of this issue.

Cliff Richards draws the comic witha solid style of illustration and captures the look and feel of ancient Egypt competently. Many of Richards’ backgrounds are not as detailed as his primary characters, relying on looser lines and cross-hatched shadows, though this is probably an intentional technique to convey distance. As mentioned above, Purgatori’s skimpy outfit somewhat biased me against the character at first, giving her the look of the vapid eye candy characters often prominent in comics. And while this time around she’s dressed in even less(!) for most of the issue, it makes sense for the setting and Richards renders her fairly tastefully. Colorist Blond permeates the issue with the soft light of Aten’s rays, contributing to the look of the story.

If you’re looking for sexy vampires and girl-on-girl action, Purgatori #2 obliges. If, however, you’re like me and require an interesting story, rest assured that the series engages the mind as well as the eyes.