It’s bad enough to keep track of all the new comics every week when you go to your comic shop each week, let alone comics that are usually in a digital format, like ComiXology Originals. For many fans, the changes Amazon made to ComiXology left a bad taste in their mouths and helped make Global Comix a fantastic service for finding all kinds of comics. The fan really should pay attention to Originals, because there is more than you might expect.
Take Exorcism, which is one of those ComiXology Originals projects that reminds you why the imprint mattered in the first place. What Jordan Thomas and Chris Matthews have built here is bold, unapologetically creator-driven, and—frankly—refreshing. It starts with a premise that feels comfortable and familiar, but don’t get cozy; it quickly peels back layers of horror you just don’t see in your typical mainstream book. This is the ultimate proof of what happens when a platform stays out of the way. Without the weight of a shared universe or corporate mandates, Thomas and Matthews have delivered something ambitious, singular, and deeply unsettling.
Thomas and Matthews’ long partnership is unmistakable. Their work moves in lockstep—Thomas pushes deep into character psychology and rising dread. At the same time, Matthews heightens every beat with moody shadows, expressive faces, and environments that feel tense without ever turning murky. The result is polished yet still charged with the raw spark of a creator‑owned project. That mutual trust gives the whole story a steady, confident pulse.
Exorcism isn’t your standard ‘lone priest vs. a demon’ story. It’s something much more ambitious: a full-scale ecosystem of possession. This series pulls back the curtain on the institutional, political, and spiritual machinery of the Church, treating exorcism like a high-stakes bureaucratic nightmare. It’s a character study wrapped in a slow-burning thriller, effortlessly pivoting from quiet, bone-chilling intimacy to grand, cinematic sequences that feel like they were storyboarded for an HBO masterpiece.
The true strength of the series lies in its emotional grounding. By stripping away the trope of the ‘unshakable exorcist,’ Thomas and Matthews present us with protagonists who are visibly frightened and psychologically burdened. This vulnerability creates a visceral connection to the reader; the horror hits harder because it is inextricably linked to the characters’ own mental and spiritual decay. Matthews’ illustrations are particularly effective here, imbuing the characters with a tired, lived-in quality that grounds the more fantastical elements in a recognizable human struggle.
Again, it is nearly impossible to discuss a ComiXology Originals title without acknowledging the Amazon-sized elephant in the room. Since its inception, the imprint has wrestled with a corporate stigma—a lingering prejudice that ‘digital-first’ is merely shorthand for ‘disposable content’ rather than ‘prestige art.’ This perception has unfairly clouded a library of genuinely remarkable work, but Exorcism stands as a definitive rebuttal to the skeptics. Far from being a product of algorithmic design, the series is a fiercely personal, creator-driven masterclass. In an ironic twist, the digital-first model seems to have granted Jordan Thomas and Chris Matthews a level of creative audacity that might never have survived the cautious editorial filters of a traditional print house.
In the end, Exorcism stands out as one of the strongest horror offerings from ComiXology Originals. It’s atmospheric, character‑rich, and unafraid to push beyond the usual boundaries of possession stories. For readers willing to look past the Amazon connection, there’s a genuinely compelling, beautifully crafted comic waiting to be discovered.
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