The Devils Footprints [Paperback]

Scott Allie (Author), Paul Lee (Author), Brian Horton (Author), Dave Stewart (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 29, 2003

When William Waite died, after a life steeped in black magic, his family thought that the terror was over. Two years later, all the people close to him begin to suffer from mysterious illnesses, including the loss of a baby. His youngest son, Brandon Waite, desperate to protect his family, begins to dig into his dead father's bag of tricks. But his desire to protect his loved ones forces him to cover up his own tentative steps into witchcraft, leading him to mix deception with demon conjuration, isolating himself in a terrible world where his soul hangs in the balance. The townspeople he grew up with have always known there's something wrong with the Waite family, and their worst fears are proven true in a fiery climax on town hill, with the devil returns to New England. Includes the four-issue mini-series in addition to previously unpublished stories.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Author and editor Allie's beat is horror, and if his stuff doesn't yet rival Clive Barker's Hellraiser among contemporary horror comics, it is never as silly as weak Hellraiser stories can be. His graphic novel sports a lurid, 1940s paperback-style cover, but the story (about a young man who must exorcise the demon that stalks his father's spirit--which he has to lay to rest, as well--and unexpectedly exiles himself from his hometown) is subtler. Allie and his trio of artist-collaborators favor dominant single hues for separate scenes, and those hues are subdued--various siennas, violets, and yellow ochres. Lines and masses are bold, however, reinforcing the impression that the team was aiming for the look of the quiet 1940s horror films produced by Val Lewton (The Cat People, I Walked with a Zombie, etc.). If that was so, mission accomplished. The volume includes three short prequels to the big story, two drawn by the same team, the third by a softer-edged draftsman. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Dark Horse (December 29, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569719330
• ISBN-13: 978-1569719336
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6.7 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #180,351 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Scott Allie writes and edits comics and stories for Dark Horse Comics and Glimmer Train Press. He's the longtime editor of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Hellboy, and brought The Umbrella Academy, Beasts of Burden, and The Goon to Dark Horse. His focus has been horror comics since a young age, which is reflected in his writing and his editing, including his first published work, Sick Smiles, a horror anthology. With Sick Smiles (1994-1996) he formed long-lasting collaborative friendships, including Kevin McGovern, with whom he created Exurbia in '94 and finally released the graphic novel in 2009. He rejoined Todd Herman, another Sick Smiles artist, in 2006 to create The Fog, a prequel to the great John Carpenter film. He's the writer or Dark Horse's adaptation of Robert E Howard's Solomon Kane, where he delves into the pulp traditions that his grandfather turned him onto as a young boy. He's currently hard at work on the sequel to his first creator owned series, The Devil's Footprints, set in his home town of Ipswich, MA. He now lives with his son in Portland, Oregon. Follow him on Twitter, where he mainly posts while on solo roadtrips through the Northwest, which he thinks extends east through the Dakotas and south through Nevada.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Should have been longer, March 13, 2004

By 

Arthur W. Scholbe "awscho" (St. Louis, Mo) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Devils Footprints (Paperback)

This is a book with promise. The plot is there, the artwork is there. But....it doesn't really develop the storyline well enough for me to feel what the characters are supposed to be experiencing. It's a good book for what it does; but I ended up feeling like the whole thing had been rushed through and that some scenes were underdeveloped. For instance, the relationship betweem the brother and his wife, and the protagonist, as well as the climax, all seemed to just be thrown at me and I was left feeling as though a great premise had just failed to be realized.

4.0 out of 5 stars Could have been so much more, November 23, 2006

By 

N. Durham "Big Evil" (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Devils Footprints (Paperback)

The formula for success is ripe with the Devil's Footprints: an original story that can be truly incredible, great artwork, and engaging characters are all prominent here; but sadly the overall story feels rushed out the door and is ultimately too short. Despite all that negative press I just gave, the Devil's Footprints isn't all bad. The story revolves around young man Brandon Waite, who uses witchcraft to protect his family. He does this because his late father William made a demonic deal that has damned his soul for all eternity, and Brandon is haunted and tormented that he himself will suffer the same fate. No matter what he does, Brandon finds himself isolated even further from his loved ones and home, leading up to a hellish climax. What sets apart the Devil's Footprints from other comic spook fests are Scott Allie's characterizations and surprisingly human story, but what ultimately stops Devil's Footprints from being something really special is that the book as a whole is way too short, and the final battle and climax feels more rushed and tacked on than anything else. The art by Paul Lee, Brian Horton, and veteran but dependable colorist Dave Stewart is spectacular, and there's a good amount of side stories and extras thrown in as well. It's not bad one bit, and it's a good graphic novel to pick up, but one can only wonder how just plain awesome this could have been.