Graphic Novel Review: DONE WITH DEMONS is the amusing escape you need

Done With Demons

Cartoonist: Dora Grents
Publisher: Silver Sprocket
Publication Date: June 2025

Every day feels like a new hell. The machine of sorrow that surrounds us seems to run on anything we need to survive. Which, in turn, only increases the suffering around us. I find it difficult to find anything in the real world that brings joy and a brief respite from the ongoing awfulness around me. It’s mainly why I read comics. They bring me from this world into a better, sometimes worse, one where I can turn the page. I have more control. Sometimes, comics (or any kind of book really) wash away the world around me. Like cleaning off the grime of the work day. They let me exist in a place outside of the now for a moment, an hour. They absorb me into something outside of time.

Dora Grents’ Done with Demons was one of those books. It is the wonderful tale of the Mayor of Hell, Boris, who has been usurped by his assistant and now must spend his days with Granny and her dog, Son. Even this short summary has a cookie jar of charm written all over it. And the book is charming. From the art to the writing to the structure, it absolutely provides you with a smile and a warm feeling like a good cup of tea.

Grents’ book feels a bit like a collection of comic strips; many of the pages skipping swaths of time or space to get to the next interaction between Granny and Boris. The pretty consistently rectangular panels, with some small variations, add to this throughout. There’s even a “daily gag” feel in parts where Granny and Boris prank call someone or Boris makes food (a cake? sculpted mashed potatoes?) in the shape of Son, which Granny mistakes for her actual dog. This gives the book a sweet feel throughout as you’re not laughing out loud but smiling, with teeth, at each new interaction that between the characters.

Much of this joy comes from the wonderful visuals in this book. This is the kind of book that I want to show students who claim that you have to draw realistic or extremely detailed work to have a comic work. Done with Demons is complex but because of the hand-drawn quality of the work. This book shows you that a few lines, a couple misshapen characters, and panels that are clearly drawn, make reading less sterile. It makes it warmer. It is the comic equivalent to having a bonfire with friends or eating with people you love. It makes you feel at home.

This is a hell of a skill to develop in such a short book. To keep a consistent feel of warmth and connection is a skill that Grents should be lauded for. I’m sure some readers who enjoy more consistency or semi-realism in their comics might be turned off from this description but I encourage you to open yourself to it. Throughout the comic the dog, Son, becomes explicitly a dog to just a few lines next to Granny. Boris has his body shift and change in incredibly small ways throughout because each drawing is fresh and new. But these shifts aren’t the work of an illustrator who isn’t paying attention or is careless with her art. It’s the work of an artist who knows that change is inherent in all things. That no picture, no matter how many times you draw it, is the same. And, in my opinion, shouldn’t be. Readers should see the changes, see the work that has been done to bring this creation to life. We should see the stitches.

This has the added benefit of the panels always bursting with the right kind of energy that the page or story requires. Boris’s ears, head, or body slightly shifting in different pages/panels is what makes his anger or submission or goofiness more palpable. Instead of complex studies of facial expression or body language, you can see how a small change in the lines lead to fantastic differences in our reading experience. You can feel the exaggerated emotions because you can see it so explicitly too. It’s simple, not simplistic. It’s direct without over explaining. In short, it’s super enjoyable.

Which is the simplest, best thing I can say for this book; it’s absurdly enjoyable. It’s not trying to change the way you see the world or the ways in which we see redemption, though redemption is possible within its pages. There isn’t a layered meaning here attempting to change the people it touches. It’s just to show us that joy still exists. Things can be charming and beautiful and weird and lovely all at once. We need reminding of that, or, I need reminding of that. That there’s still fun. There’s laughter. There’s the potential for more smiles.

I constantly caught myself smiling while reading Dora Grents’ Done with Demons. I also caught myself going back and rereading a page just to smile again. Done with Demons gives us something to smile about because you can feel Grents reaching out. You can feel her connecting with you in the way a friend tries to cheer you up after a bad breakup. For a book that is seemingly so simple, this is the brilliance of it: it’s one human reaching out into the darkness to ask if there is anyone else out there. When I found myself reaching out, I found Grents. My gratitude for the brief recharge this book gave me is immense. So, thank you Dora (and Boris and Granny and Son). This hell needs more people like you.

Verdict: Lose yourself in this one. Buy it, read it, let it wash away the world for a little while.

Done With Demons is available now

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