Possessions Volume 4: The Final Tantrum

Possessions Volume 4: The Final Tantrum cover

It’s been three years since the previous book (author Ray Fawkes was putting out two graphic novels for adults as well as working on several titles for DC in the meantime), but we finally get to find out what the pit demon Gurgazon will do now that she’s broken free of zoo-like captivity. Don’t be misled by the title, though — the series doesn’t end here.

Gurgazon first appeared in Possessions: Unclean Getaway, where she became part of a collection of ghostly curiosities. In book two, The Ghost Table, and book three, The Better House Trap, Gurgazon plotted and schemed to escape her new, ensorcelled home while she (and we) got to know more about her fellow inhabitants.

Possessions Volume 4: The Final Tantrum cover

Each book starts with an origin for one of those other ghosts — in book two, it’s the Ice Field Lights, a presence from the frozen north; in book three, the headless Pale Lady; here, my favorite, the Duke, a possessed jukebox who speaks in song lyrics. Each book also has a signature monochrome color; here, it’s a surprisingly effective orange.

In The Final Tantrum, Gurgazon has become gigantic, the better to destroy the houses of the women who collect and restrict the spirits. That’s only a preliminary to summoning the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse to destroy the world, as she’s been promising to do for years. Only no one seems to have taken her seriously, the more fools they. We also get some darkly funny flashbacks to Gurgazon’s creation and purpose way back when.

As we learn more about the other cast members, the big mystery that remains is exactly what’s up with the butler, Mr. Thorne, and his near-omniscient abilities to foil the spirits’ escape plans, as well as his astounding survival skills. He tries to rally the other freed ghosts to work together against the massive threats they face, but the question I’m eagerly waiting to see answered is his origin. That’s only one of several open items left at the end of this book, as we see only part of what happens to Gurgazon’s plans and struggles.

Possessions is a fun, different action romp with a horror overlay. Kids, particularly, will revel in the Godzilla-like destruction Gurgazon indulges in. The fifth volume is planned for 2016. (The publisher provided a digital review copy.)



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