By Chris Tresson
I’ve been sitting on this issue since even before issue one came out. I got sent the first three issues and I had to make the tough decision of either reading them all in one go or reading and reviewing them as they came out in stores. I opted for the latter after reading issue one because the prospect of going a couple of months to find out what happens in issue four would’ve done my fuckin’ nut in. So this is my review of the second issue of that Brian Azzarello/Eduardo Risso creator-owned joint, Moonshine. Published by Image Comics and out this week at your local comic book shop!
Things are turned up a notch this issue; we get a lot more action than there was in the first part of this story. We also get to see what the protagonist is dealing with in this series: a bloody big werewolf. I like this, it’s a nice element to shake things up and when I really thought about it, it gave me an all-new appreciation for the title of this book… It’s a double entendre. That might’ve been clear to the majority of you already, haha, but when I read the first issue I wasn’t really focusing on the werewolf element. The ending of the issue is top notch and will definitely leave you wanting to know what’s going to happen next (as it did with me.)
Now, I love Brian Azzarello as a writer and I like everything he does, but there is one thing that’s grating on me a bit… It’s Azzarello’s use of the accents and dialect in the dialogue. It’s not a big deal really, I can get past it but it does seem like he’s laying it on a bit too thick. If it’s bang on for the region, fair enough, I apologize. I’ve yet to find myself in that part of the world. There were also some instances where I thought words had been missed out by accident rather than done intentionally to lend to the accent/dialect of the setting. That’s me nitpicking, like I said, I can get past it. Everything else in here is excellent and I really enjoyed the writing in this issue.
The art continues to be great here, maybe even more so than what Eduardo Risso did in the first issue. There’s a lot of space for him to breathe in issue two and because of that, we get a lot of great panels where Risso really shines. I really like that fucking werewolf, it looks badass and I’m looking forward to seeing some more of it in later issues. The coloring in this book is really nice, I like selection of greens and blues on display, they really add a touch of uniqueness to the story and the color choices look fucking great over the lineart. No complaints about the art at all! Huzzah!
So, there you have it… Moonshine #2. It’s better than issue one and I’m going to jump right into issue three as soon as I’ve uploaded this to Comic Bastards because I need to see what happens next. I can wait a couple of months for issue four surely… If you enjoyed the first issue, you’re going to love this one. The creative team are on point and I have a feeling it’s only going to get better from here on out.
Score: 4/5
Moonshine #2
Writer: Brian Azzarello
Artist: Eduardo Risso
Publisher: Image Comics