The first issue of this mini had a pretty strong opening; it successfully set the stage for an interesting story filled with giant robotic animals in a post-apocalyptic world. You’d think that the second issue would continue to move forward with the ground work already done for it, but really it felt like reading the first issue again. Sure it was slightly different, but it starts and ends practically the same way. We open with our Protector fighting a new metal creature that resembles a werewolf of sorts. There are three of them as Maya (you probably forgot her name since it’s not mentioned once in the issue) narrowly defeats them. She walks for a while and comes across what looks like an abandoned shelter. A dust storm kicks up and she runs inside the only building with a door, only to find something she’s never seen before… a light bulb. A stranger jumps her from behind and tells her to leave at once.
The story isn’t bad and neither is the writing, but it’s not any different from the first issue in a lot of ways. The pacing and the beats are about the same; action for six pages, lots of dialog and plot set up, element of danger added and then a cliffhanger. This issue is kind of wasted with the lack of development in anything other than the main plot. Maya’s goal for a magical place that will solve all of her society’s problems isn’t very interesting when she’s just walking around and killing stuff. The other problem is that Maya isn’t developed as a character and we spend the entire issue with her. Also I don't care if she succeeds in her goal or not as she's a long wolf in the society she comes from.
The art is still fantastic, but without the story to move it forward it too suffers from the same problem… it looks the same. Same action sequences, different monsters. I still love the coloring and the details in the pencils strokes, but it’s not enough to save the rest of the book.
We had a great start with the first issue, but now the book has fallen flat. I’ll give it the next issue for sure, but the setup from this issues cliffhanger only gives it one place to go… a six page action sequence. Hopefully this Water World on land story picks up the pace and gives the reader a reason to remember Maya’s name in the next issue.
Score: 3/5
Writer: Kurtis J. Wiebe Artist: Riley Rossmo Publisher: Image Comics and Shadowline Price: $3.50 Release Date: 8/29/12