Hannah Chapter and Lawrence Verse, two freelance occult investigators are recruited to lead the leftovers of a now-defunct British Intelligence paranormal division. Owned by a mysterious rock star, the group is labeled Caballistics, Inc. and sent out to uncover and battle the hordes of Hell and other paranormal evil.

Going Underground is a strong, character-driven story of Chapter, the hard-edged American chick who's quick to pull a trigger and is very secure in her sexuality and Lawrence Verse, the tough and disciplined priest who clearly kicks ass for the Lord. The story around them is one of infernal evil, bigger-than-life conspiracies, and at least one really cool demon in a chick. From demon-filled subways to palatial estates of long-dead occultists who're still being evil, we get to see the beginning of what promises to be an epic tale of occulty goodness.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel and likes many aspects of the tale. The characters are interesting and nothing in the story is cheesy, even the names "Chapter & Verse" are admitted to be fake rather than one of those odd coincidences comics and television seems to be filled with. Even the stereotypical rich benefactor with his own dark motives was played with a little by making him a retired rock star. Jimmy Page, perhaps?

Besides a cast of demons, we're also given some evil ghosts, occultists, and even some zombies in a particularly cool flashback that lets us see a little more into Verse's personality.

One thing that bugged me was that one of the evils encountered is the wayward spirit of an early 20th century warlock who dubbed himself "The Beast 666". Clearly this is supposed to be Aleister Crowley to the letter. I liked how this was included in the story, a mix of fact and fiction always makes for an entertaining read and few details were left out. However, later on Crowley is mentioned by name, so in the world this book takes place in, there's both Crowley and another guy exactly like him except for his name. That's an odd plot issue to overlook and it really bugged me.

The dialog is fresh and witty, with each character really having their own voice rather than all sharing the voice of the author. Furthermore, while I really prefer color in my comics, the stark nature of the art really gave it a forboding aspect that may have made the story seem more serious.

A damn fine story and I would be interested in reading more. I would have liked it to have been longer, it ends just as the story is really picking up, but that's the serialized nature of the comic beast, isn't it. The beginning of a story always has the job of introducing the characters and setting, and sometimes that gets in the way of the story, but not so in this one, the story is told loud and clear.

8 out of 10 Demons with a handful of nani