Image Comics 2015
Written by Brian K. Vaughan
Illustrated by Cliff Chiang
Coloured by Matt Wilson
Lettered by Jared K. Fletcher
Alright well I love the fact that the second issue really took me someplace unexpected. I’m still not sure what the heck is going on here but i’m totally digging it. There’s this whole question of what has actually happened to the town and the people inhabiting it going on here. The girls find themselves alone facing what appears to be monsters. Then they find that little Apple device that would suggest time travel and yet there’s still a nagging other dimensional aspect to all this that seemingly can’t be explained. Even with that weird device they stumbled across. Mystery and intrigue galore and Brian is telling this story wonderfully!
So after that cryptic beginning we see the girls head to Erin’s house. I love that they act like young teenage girls! The conversation is incredibly well crafted with all the 80’s references you can possibly imagine. Even the sidetracked full Hershey Bar chat just demonstrates who they are. The rationalization that perhaps the people they saw had diseases like the character Eric Stoltz played in Mask yeah it all just comes across as genius. Mac says there’s a gun at her house and it would be best if they all headed over there.
Along the way the see what appears to be a boy in costume, a werewolf costume possibly worn by Wallace Bund. Then when they close to him a strange sound appears and the skies open and suddenly we see they aren’t alone anymore. The two page spread is amazingly well done by Ciff and Matt. I love the girls reaction to this though I guess they hadn’t been too keen on studying dinosaurs and the like cause that’s immediately where my mind went but still it does add this certain cool flair.
It’s like this has all the elements of a made for SyFy movie with a little Night of the Comet thrown in but executed in such a way that it’s sheer perfection. Once at Mac’s house things get even more complicated and weird. Alice, Mac’s stepmother, is there but her dad has vanished and Alice thinks it’s the rapture or end days. It’s so much fun to see so many different things happening and opinions conflicting with one another.
This scene with Alice and Mac while the girls watch it play out is extremely telling. Suddenly it’s like we’ve got this window into why Mac is the way she is and that behind that tough girl exterior is someone else. I really like what Brian’s doing here with that. There’s a sincere and yet brutal honesty to what we see that isn’t softened because she’s a girl but feels more emotional.
Then of course there’s the cliffhanger ending. Yeah as if what the heck is happening around here wasn’t enough to draw us back next issue this done sealed the deal didn’t it.
This is a pretty amazing series so far and if each issue raises the bar slightly from the one before than damn we’re in for something extraordinary. While I’ve never been the biggest fan of Cliff’s style it fits with these characters and this world nicely. It has that softer less is more quality that with them makes it more suited to a teenage girl book.
Definitely off to an auspicious start and I can’t wait to see what is going to be revealed next!