In this review of Gehenna: Naked Aggression #1, we’re introduced to a brutal assassin, her tragic past, and a mobster’s son that’s been dragged into things.
Gehenna: Naked Aggression #1
Writer: Patrick Kindlon
Art and Main Cover: Maurizio Rosenzweig
Variant Covers: Anand Ramcheron, Atsuji Yamamoto, Maria Llovet, Matteo Scalera
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: July 2, 2025
Gehenna: Naked Aggression #1 begins right in the middle of a fight, as Gehenna thinks about the fight itself. She’s more accustomed to them ending within seconds, but this is taking longer than anticipated. She’s having to improvise. It was supposed to be a simple murder, but then her target’s son comes home. This gives her a convenient bargaining chip, as she brings him with her.
She refuses to kill him, her inner monologue stating that if she did, she’d lose her leverage. Gehenna’s making sure the boy (Stephen) makes himself useful during her escape with him. All this while, he’s afraid, bullets are flying left and right.
As Gehenna’s trying not to get murdered by the kid’s bodyguards, he asks her why she’s doing this. This takes her into a flashback of happier times, when she had a husband and a kid of her own. Due to financial difficulties, her husband had taken on a second job as a security guard. But he’d broken up a fight one night, and one of those involved in said fight was connected to the mob and didn’t quite appreciate this guy’s meddling…
Gehenna and Steve run from the SUV chasing them, before it cuts to the introduction of Isa. She and Kamiisa are investigating the SUV and its very dead occupants. They’d neglected to take a more pragmatic approach, whereas their target had a loaded shotgun and a distinct lack of mercy.
Gehenna and Steve hitch a ride from an old couple, while Isa is preparing to hunt the other woman down.
More flashback near the end, with the mob catching up to Gehenna and her family at a motel, where they open fire. Back in the present, she picks up on the smell of blood…
Gehenna: Naked Aggression #1 is definitely giving me the vibes of something from the 80s or 90s, with our dark and gritty anti-heroine. As the story continued, I found myself drawing parallels between Gehenna and The Punisher (the murder of her family serving as a motivator, the white boots with a black outfit…). So seeing an issue of The Punisher being specifically mentioned in the creator notes at the end feels about right.
The art style also reminds me of comics of that era, with a distinct amount of hatching and cross-hatching for the shading. It’s noticeable (and classic), and it really helps to sell it as a throwback. Action movies of the 80s and 90s aren’t known for being the deepest pieces of media out there, nor did they have to be. It’s all meant as entertainment. This comic succeeds in that regard.
The character designs are well-done, I’d say. One that stands out in particular for me is Isa, with her large hair. She reminds me of…again, a character from the 80s (perhaps even 70s) with her whole design. And as for how she’s been introduced so far, she feels like she’d be a good foil for Gehenna.
The panel compositions are compellingly-done, making the reader feel the heavy action of the whole thing. I also like the visual differences of the present, past (flashbacks), and future (the “Next Time” page). In order, we’ve got: normal color levels, desaturated, and full-on black and white.
The flashbacks to Gehenna’s backstory are inserted well. The story doesn’t dwell on them for too long, instead spending just enough time to give a taste of what happened to push Gehenna down this path of murder and mayhem. At the same time, if she’d just outright said it, without the steadily-unfolding flashback, it wouldn’t have as much of an impact.
Final Thoughts
Gehenna: Naked Aggression #1 is a delightful throwback to the 80s and 90s action genre. Gehenna: Naked Aggression is a comic that knows what it is, and makes no apologies for it.
