Excommunicated #3 Review: Vault Comics Turns Faith, Fear, and Hell Into a Brutal Revelation
Excommunicated #3 pushes Vault Comics’ demonic horror series deeper into dangerous theological territory, and the result is one of the most revealing chapters of the series so far.
After the chaos of Excommunicated #2, Josephine is no longer simply running from monsters. She is running from armed Vatican soldiers, buried religious secrets, and the terrifying realization that Hell may have a much more complicated relationship with the Church than she ever imagined.
Writer Jeremy Robinson, artist Tiago Palma, colorist Manuel J. Rodriguez, and letterer Jim Campbell with Andworld Design use this third issue to expand the mythology while keeping the story moving at a violent, breathless pace. The issue still has demonic action, but the real horror comes from what Josephine learns about “the satan,” the Church, and the arrangement hiding beneath centuries of faith.
Excommunicated #3 Review
Excommunicated #3 is the kind of issue that rewards readers who have been following the series from the beginning. The first issue introduced the concept with a strong supernatural hook, while Excommunicated #1 established Josephine as more than just another person caught inside a demonic nightmare. She has questions, instincts, and a survival drive that makes her compelling.
Issue #3 sharpens that even further.
Josephine and Edimmu are trapped between immediate danger and ancient truth. Vatican soldiers are closing in, Pazuzu is in play, and Father Santos is no longer just a spiritual authority figure standing on the edge of the story. His true feelings and true allegiance begin to matter in a major way.
That is where this issue becomes more than a chase story. It is still fast, violent, and filled with demonic threat, but Robinson uses the action to open up the larger mythology. The series is not just asking whether demons are real. It is asking who benefits from calling something evil, who controls the story of damnation, and what happens when the institutions claiming moral authority are tangled inside the same darkness they claim to fight.
Josephine Gets an Eye-Opening History Lesson
The strongest part of Excommunicated #3 is how it reframes the supernatural world around Josephine.
Edimmu’s explanation of “the satan” gives the series a bigger historical and theological scope. The story leans into the idea that the word is not just a name, but a role, a title, and a force connected to accusation, opposition, and power. That gives the issue a different flavor from a standard possession or exorcism comic.
Rather than treating Hell as a simple pit of monsters, Excommunicated builds a political and spiritual system with rules, bargains, betrayals, and long-standing arrangements. The issue suggests that demons, the Church, and powerful human institutions may have been negotiating with one another for far longer than Josephine understood.
That revelation makes Josephine’s situation more dangerous. She is not simply being hunted because she saw too much. She may be caught inside a system designed to keep people from understanding how power really works.
That gives this issue teeth.
The Vatican Soldiers Bring Immediate Pressure
The mythology is strong, but the issue does not get lost in exposition. The Vatican soldiers keep the threat physical and immediate.
The opening stretch places Josephine and the others under pressure quickly. There is no clean escape, no easy explanation, and no safe authority figure to trust. The soldiers are not presented as generic henchmen either. They feel like part of a larger apparatus: organized, armed, disciplined, and terrifying because they believe they are operating with purpose.
That makes the conflict more disturbing. Josephine is not just fighting monsters. She is fighting people who believe they are justified.
The preview pages from the uploaded issue show how Tiago Palma stages these scenes with clear tension, tight body language, and a strong sense of panic as Josephine and Edimmu try to survive the soldiers’ assault.
Edimmu Steals the Issue
Edimmu continues to be one of the most entertaining and unsettling parts of the series.
A talking demonic entity could easily become comic relief or a horror gimmick, but Excommunicated #3 finds a strong middle ground. Edimmu can be funny, smug, and strangely charming, but the character also carries information that changes the entire shape of the story.
That contrast works. Edimmu’s personality makes the theological history lesson more engaging, while the darker implications keep the issue from becoming too playful. The character’s explanations are sharp, blasphemous, and provocative, but they also serve the larger mystery.
Josephine’s reactions are just as important. She does not passively accept what she is told. She challenges, questions, and pushes back, which helps the issue avoid feeling like a lecture. Instead, the dialogue becomes a battle over truth.
Who gets to define evil?
Who gets to define salvation?
And who benefits when everyone else is kept afraid?
Those are the questions that make this chapter hit harder.
Pazuzu Raises the Stakes
The synopsis makes it clear that Pazuzu now stands in the way, and the issue uses that threat well.
Pazuzu is not treated like a random monster-of-the-month obstacle. The massive demon represents the scale of the forces Josephine is now dealing with. The series has already established that Hell is not simple. With Pazuzu entering the conflict, the danger feels older, larger, and more violent than anything Josephine can reasonably handle on her own.
That is where Excommunicated #3 succeeds as a middle chapter. It answers enough questions to deepen the mythology, but it also leaves Josephine in a worse position than before. The more she learns, the less safe the world becomes.
Tiago Palma’s Art Keeps the Horror Moving
Tiago Palma’s art remains one of the book’s biggest strengths.
The issue moves between grounded human danger and grotesque supernatural imagery without losing clarity. The action scenes have weight. The quieter scenes have tension. The demon designs feel organic, nasty, and visually memorable without becoming unreadable on the page.
Palma also handles expressions well. Josephine’s fear, suspicion, anger, and disbelief all read clearly. Edimmu’s physical presence adds personality, and the Vatican soldiers create a strong visual contrast with the demonic elements. That mix keeps the issue visually sharp.
Manuel J. Rodriguez’s colors help sell the horror. The book uses earth tones, sickly supernatural energy, and bursts of violence to create a world that feels corrupted from the inside out. Jim Campbell and Andworld Design keep the lettering readable while still allowing the demonic voices and supernatural beats to feel distinct.
The creative team is not just telling a horror story. They are building an atmosphere of institutional dread.
A Strong Issue for Vault Comics Horror Fans
Readers who enjoyed Excommunicated #1’s original horror setup should find a lot to like here. Issue #3 shows that the series has more going on than possession scares and demonic spectacle.
This chapter expands the world, complicates the Church’s role, and gives Josephine a clearer sense of the nightmare she has been pulled into. It is a smart move for the series because it makes the horror feel bigger than one incident or one exorcism.
The issue is also a good reminder that Vault Comics continues to be a strong home for genre comics that want to push beyond familiar formulas. Excommunicated #3 blends religious horror, conspiracy, demonic mythology, and character-driven survival into one nasty little package.
Final Thoughts
Excommunicated #3 is a strong, mythology-heavy chapter that gives the series more depth without sacrificing momentum.
Jeremy Robinson expands the supernatural rules of the world, Tiago Palma keeps the visuals tense and grotesque, Manuel J. Rodriguez adds a strong horror palette, and Jim Campbell with Andworld Design keeps the issue moving with clean, effective lettering.
Josephine’s story is becoming more dangerous, more complicated, and much more personal. The Vatican soldiers are scary. Pazuzu is terrifying. But the biggest horror may be the secret arrangement hiding behind holy walls.
This is a sharp third issue that should keep readers invested in where the series goes next.
Excommunicated #3 Details
Title: Excommunicated #3
Publisher: Vault Comics
Writer: Jeremy Robinson
Artist: Tiago Palma
Colorist: Manuel J. Rodriguez
Letterer: Jim Campbell with Andworld Design
Cover Artist: Flaviano Armentaro
On Sale: July 22, 2026
Genre: Horror, Supernatural, Religious Horror
Readers can also check the listing for Excommunicated #3 on League of Comic Geeks or look for the issue through retailers like Midtown Comics.
Join the Discussion
Are you picking up Excommunicated #3 when it hits comic shops? What do you think of the series’ deeper dive into Hell, the Church, and the hidden rules behind exorcism horror?
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