Prick: Jezebel’s Backup Plan

Prick: Jezebel’s Backup Plan There’s a guy in Hellchild: The Unholy named Prick, and the comic wastes absolutely no time explaining why that name fits him. His introduction is him pissing against a wall in New York. A cop tries to arrest him, he turns around and shows a mouth full of razors, and the cop immediately decides this is somebody else’s problem. That’s the guy Jezebel Felina brings along when Angelica insists she can handle an assassination job by herself. He’s huge, covered in tattoos, and apparently perfectly happy being the most unpleasant person in the room. But the little exchange when Angelica actually meets him is what sold me on him. She notices the razor teeth and asks whether they hurt. His answer is, “Not me.” Angelica decides she likes him. Of course she does. He fits into this story because Jezebel needs someone who can handle the physical side of her business without turning every conversation into a negotiation. Angelica has questions. She pushes back, gets angry, and doesn’t always follow the plan. Prick is already part of the operation. When it’s time to get through a door and take apart the things behind it, he gets on with it. The raid on Kevin Nestor’s hideout makes that pretty clear. Angelica goes in upstairs while Jezebel, her hellhounds, and Prick deal with the reptilian guards below. He kicks through the entrance and bites into a guard’s face. Later, he helps free a captive. The same guy who scares off a cop for his own amusement is also getting prisoners out of a serial killer’s building. I wouldn’t call him a good person based on that, but I like that the book lets him be useful without sanding off everything nasty about him. And he’s loyal to Jezebel. When Angelica apparently kills her, he doesn’t calmly accept that the main character must have a good reason. He attacks her, gets captured, and calls her a traitor. From where he’s standing, someone his boss hired has just murdered her and joined the enemy. His reaction makes sense. Angelica has a plan, and Jezebel’s resurrection gives them a chance to turn the fight around. Prick is right back in it once he’s freed, protecting Jezebel and helping fight the monsters. He survives the whole mess and is still with the group when their next job takes them into a television studio. He doesn’t get an elaborate origin in these five issues. We don’t need to make one up for him. He’s the intimidating muscle who turns out to be dependable when his people need him, and that gives him a place in the cast beyond just standing behind Jezebel looking scary. Sometimes a supporting character only needs a few good scenes. His first conversation with Angelica is one of those. Spoilers for Hellchild: The Unholy #1–5.