Priest by Min-Woo Hyung

A guest review from Teen Room Staff Brandon!

Priest is a no-holds barred, shoot first; ask questions later kind of graphic novel. The protagonist, Ivan Isaacs, is a former priest who has sold half his soul to the devil, Belial, to attempt to save his love, Gena. Priest opens with Ivan riding on a train through the west with a criminal accompanied by four marshals (law enforcement). The criminal turns out to be the boss of the local gang, Rebel Angels. Being the boss of the local gang has its perks, and Lizzie (the boss) is the target of a rescue by her gang. The gang takes over the train, kills the crew and marshals, and robs the passengers, and loot the rest of the train; but when they attempt to rob Ivan, they find a little bit more resistance than they bargained for. While demanding that Ivan comply, the gang’s second in command, Kacho, hears his scouts scream from the rear of the train, where they have discovered a chained car, in which they assume are treasures.

Unluckily for the scouts, there is no treasure present, but a horde of undead zombies, who have been awakened by the bloodshed of the train’s inhabitants. These undead serve the fallen archangel, Temozarela, who Ivan knows as Jarbilong. He knew the contents of the final car, and prophesized the gang’s demise if they did not leave the train. Of course, they didn’t listen to him, and attempted to fight the undead horde they unleashed. Their struggle was in vain as they fought the immortal soldiers of Temozarela. Ivan finally steps in after the zombies have killed all but Lizzie, and defends her because she reminds him of Gena. Ivan takes a mortal wound while protecting Lizzie, and she realizes he is immortal. The wound triggers him to call upon his demonic power, driving him into a frenzy in which he kills all the zombies, and nearly kills Lizzie. His memories of Gena are the only thing that saves her. He tells her to flee the train because more undead soldiers are approaching, and subsequently blows it up.

Priest presents a fast paced novel with many action-packed gunfights. As I stated before, it is a graphic novel, but rather than Japanese style, it is read from left to right. I enjoyed Priest for its main storyline featuring Ivan’s quest to regain his soul and join Gena in the afterlife, but I think many people would enjoy it for its shoot-em-up nature.

--Brandon


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