Vermis II: Mist & Mirrors is a graphic novel by Plastiboo. The team behind the work includes Plastiboo as the artist, Hollow Press as the publisher, Michele Nitri as the editor, Christian Dolz Bayarri as the graphic designer, Marco Cirillo Pedri as the graphic supervisor, and E.R. as the English editor and proofreader. The Vermis collection seems sold out in its current editions, but I still recommend ordering from the original publisher, Hollow Press.

Who stares back from the dark glass? The Wayfarer travels–cursed and haunted by their past–through the distant lands and places within the Mist & Mirrors. Endure a corrupt world and struggle to fend off the curses that mark you. Venture forth, Wayfarer, and perhaps find peace and salvation.

What I Like about Vermis II: Mist & Mirrors

The premise remains an “official guide” to a game that does not exist. However, one key distinction that stands out is the corrosion of this “official guide” mark, suggesting Mist & Mirrors centers itself as a graphic novel. In this sense, it more accurately hits its vision while providing an engaging story.

Mist & Mirrors places its character selection at the end of the graphic novel, instead, choosing a character and allowing the reader to follow that journey. While this moves away from the “official guide” concept, it better fleshes out the world and creates a more independent product.

Where Vermis I held a heavy retro-game aesthetic, Vermis II takes this to the next level while adding a wider range of color than the original. Not only does this add more aesthetic variety, but it also vastly improves readability. My greatest critique of the first graphic novel was the general lack of readability that impacted the experience, but Mist & Mirrors seems to take this to heart. Beyond the variety and improvement, the design changes the color themes to match the distinct lands the “Wayfarer” embarks on, giving a direct purpose to the changes.

On starting the graphic novel, I half expected a spiritual successor set in a new world. While its setting certainly differs from the original, Mist & Mirrors expands on the lore and history. In fact, the exploration of Mist & Mirrors adds value to the original and encourages a re-read. Honestly, that’s what all sequels strive (or should strive) to succeed.

Despite the colorful innovation, Vermis II: Mist & Mirrors delivers that same bleak horror popularized by Dark Souls. It still wears its inspirations on its sleeves while better communicating its “game mechanics.”

Tired Tropes and Triggers

Again, there aren’t many points worth mentioning regarding tropes or triggers. As the graphic novel takes themes and trends from the Soulslike genre, it’s dark and bleak but not overwhelmingly so.

Payment and delivery (for American audiences) still come with a 15 to 45-day wait period with little room for verification or updates. The process through PayPal remains seamless, and I received the novel within the timeframe, but it’s a consideration.

What I Dislike about Vermis II: Mist & Mirrors

While there are notable points to mention in this section, Mist & Mirror vastly mitigates Vermis I’s core issues. However, that isn’t inherently the same as fixing them in some cases. For example, readability remains a slight issue. I will emphasize it as a slight issue with the vast improvements implemented.

For those fans of the specific niche that Vermis aims to deliver, Mist & Mirrors tones down the “official guide” aspect. Instead, it favors a more straightforward narrative that follows a specific character. This brings life to the “game world” and makes an independent product but limits Vermis I’s game guide concept.

On a more personal note, I did enjoy the concept of Vermis I’s classes over the classes of Mist & Mirrors. Naturally, there are some interesting concepts, but nothing haunts me like the Infant Seeker or Rat Man. However, the new choices seem to provide a stronger narrative and backstory.

Final Thoughts

Vermis II: Mist & Mirrors vastly improves in many aspects of the original, telling a story set in its bleak and fascinating world. While it does veer from the original concept, it does so to make a more independent product. If you are looking to lose yourself in a strange world or dive deeper into Vermis’ underexplored lore, Mist & Mirrors seems tailor-made for you.
(5 / 5)

Evil is a supernatural drama created by Michelle King and Robert King; this review will cover 177 Minutes. The central cast includes Katja Herbers, Mike Colter, Aasif Mandvi, Michael Emerson, and Christine Lahti. It originally aired under CBS before moving to Paramount+. As of this review, it’s available through Netflix and Paramount+ and its add-ons.

David (Mike Colter), Kristen (Katja Herbers), and Ben (Aasif Mandvi) assess a miracle. A woman pronounced dead for three hours came back to life in the morgue, leaving room for a massive lawsuit. Ben faces a problem he can’t explain, while David faces old demons. Kristen comforts her children while unraveling why a demon haunts her nightmare.

What I Like about Evil: 177 Minutes

The moment of the miracle is particularly troubling, as the suspect of the miracle wakes up right before her autopsy. It creates an interesting dilemma that doesn’t take much to empathize with and evokes a haunting horror.

177 Minutes also maintains that ambiguity between the real and supernatural, leaving just enough room for the characters to find justifications for their bias without minimizing the true evil rooted within.

While this episode remains dominantly Kristen’s, David and Ben get a fair deal of characterization and focus. Specifically, their stories explore the weaknesses of their characters, planting the seed for further development while showing how the group functions as a whole.

Leland (Michael Emerson) remains an enthralling antagonist, providing a campy but threatening element to the show that matches the tone perfectly. He often haunts a scene because he easily pokes at weaknesses, making us wonder if there isn’t some devilish influence.

Another performance to give credit to is that of Kurt Fuller’s Dr. Kurt Boggs. As Kristen’s therapist and professional peer, the two characters provide another layer to refute the more mystical elements of Evil.

177 Minutes addresses further evils that don’t provide the direct punch the first episode delivers. However, it does add a larger understanding of what the series hopes to explore, interweaving familiar evil with supernatural horror.

Tired Tropes or Triggers

One character’s journey involves drug use. The complexity of this doesn’t yet suggest addiction in the traditional sense, but it is shown and used as a crutch for the character involved.

This episode dives into racism, specifically tied to the healthcare industry. A later episode will dive further into this dynamic, but it’s a relevant point of 177 Minutes’s plot.

The bureaucracy of the Catholic church will remain a recurring plot point for Evil, considering the show follows Catholic assessors. Another more specific point to bring up is the malpractice and bureaucracy of the medical sector.

There are a few meta jokes revolving around a horror series, which might undermine the show for some. This show provides a dark comedic tone to alleviate some tension, but this feels less like a campier approach.

What I Dislike about Evil: 177 Minutes

As mentioned, a future episode will deal with medical malpractice and discrimination in the healthcare industry with a far more weighty and critical analysis. 177 Minutes feels like it tests the water of what Evil can talk about, potentially providing the groundwork for such plotlines. However, that doesn’t benefit this episode.

There’s a harder lean towards a procedural show, which fits Evil, but ties less to the overarching plot. For an otherwise tight series, this feels slightly underwhelming. However, this is a product of an overall tight, efficient, and effective show instead of a general issue of the episode.

Final Thoughts

Evil: 177 Minutes opens the door for more systemic conversations, focusing on ever-prevalent evil in our real world. While it’s a strong episode that lays out the foundation of future plot points, it’s more of a procedural than future entries.
(3 / 5)

Witches of East End is not a well-known show. At least, I hadn’t heard about it until I stumbled upon it while researching this series. Now that I’ve experienced it, I’m not sure why it wasn’t more popular. And with a 7.5 rating on IMDB, it’s clear that those who saw the show agree.

Just the facts

Launching in 2013 and running for just two seasons, Witches of East End is the story of the Beauchamp family. Wendy, Joanna, Freya and Ingrid are witches. Joanna, the mother of Freya and Ingrid, has kept this from them for their lives.

Or, at least their current lives.

But the enemies of their past lives catch up with them as Freya prepares to get married. Soon the girls have to learn how to use their powers before they are killed.

And stay dead.

What Witches of East End got right

I will be honest, this portion is going to be pretty short.

One thing I appreciated was Ingrid’s fascination with witchcraft before she knew she was a witch. While she thought it was all make-believe, she was fascinated by it.

This feels very true to life. While being raised in a high-control and patriarchal religion, I was fascinated with witchcraft. Whether this fascination led to my conversion or there was always something calling to me is up for debate. But this fascination feels very familiar.

I also liked the moment in the first episode when Ingrid finds a fertility spell on the internet. Because, in this very modern world, most spells we witches learn are from the internet. Most of my witchy education came from creators on the internet. And there’s nothing wrong with that. If a spell is going to work for you, it’s going to work no matter how you learned it.

Finally, there was a frightening part of this episode that feels true. Not just as a witch, but as someone who lives near the Appalachian forests.

If you see someone who looks like you, run away. Get as far away as possible.

What they got wrong

While I enjoyed this show, I have to say that it was not witchy accurate. Starting with Ingrid’s assumption that the fertility spell she does for her friend, Barb, is white magic, not black magic.

That’s not a thing. There is no white magic or black magic, there’s just magic. Practitioners might disagree about using baneful magic, but that’s a personal decision. But the prospect of good bad magic is based on outdated puritanical opinions about right and wrong.

To put it bluntly, there is little to no witchcraft in this show that is recognizable. It is all fiction magic, based on the assumption that witches are mythical creatures that look like but are not humans.

And that’s fine. It’s not claiming to be anything else.

Frankly, just because a show is heavy on realistic witchcraft doesn’t mean it’s a good show. The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina had plenty of real witchcraft, and it was still a horrible show. So if you’re ready to enjoy this show for the pure fantasy/horror that it is, then you’ll have a good witchy time.

While Witches of East End didn’t have much to do with Modern witchcraft, it was still a fun watch. Purely from a storytelling standpoint, I highly recommend it.

(4 / 5)

By the way, if you like this you might enjoy my haunted apartment novella, Quiet Apocalypse. The main character is a modern witch, and I share some real magic in this fictional story of an unexpected end of the world.