Teenagers are mysteriously waking up with powers and no, puberty is not the culprit. The gorgeously drawn series Bloodlines continues, but is it good?
Bloodlines #2 (DC Comics)
So what’s the deal? DC Comics summary reads:
BLOODLINES continues! Eddie and the rest of the town struggle to cope with the tragic loss of one of their own, but something else is plaguing Eddie. What exactly happened to him in the forest—and what does it mean? He’s not the only one dealing with the fallout from the bizarre alien infestation, either. Others are starting to discover some strange and haunting abilities that seem more like curses. And there’s one who’s all too eager to embrace these newfound powers, with horrific results.
Why does this book matter?
J.T. Krul managed to capture the voice of a lot of characters last month and introduce them well. You felt like you knew them and while I was outspoken about my opinion that the comic needed more spectacle it was still a good intro to the characters. Meanwhile the pencils by V. Ken Marion are fantastic and remind me of Greg Capullo’s lines.
Fine, you have my attention. What’s good about it?
Shit goes down this month, powers are revealed from more of the characters, and a defined villain emerges too. Our protagonist Eddie turned blue and huge last month and he opens this issue at his friend’s funeral. The town still seems to think a killer deer is the culprit and this sets in motion Eddie’s realization that the powers are real. Krul does well to carry his story forward, but also opens the issue with a good amount of recap for new readers. As characters develop in this issue–and understandably freak the hell out–you’ll relate to and enjoy the characterization.
Nice summary to open the book.
Marion continues to draw a mean comic with solid facial expressions and cool powers to go with it. His style is incredibly reminiscent of the 90s Image comics, right down to the inks from Sean Parsons. Each character’s powers look cool, especially Faith’s who has some kind of demonic purple energy thing going on. Environments and backgrounds are quite vividly rendered, which helps make the comic feel like it’s actually happening. One of the best pages is a full page spread of Eddie having a bad dream of the demonic deer from the last issue. Using interrupting panels that grow smaller down the page, Marion gives the impression the dream is subsiding and Eddie is slowly waking. Cool stuff.
It can’t be perfect can it?
While it’s cool to see each power flair up (literally, for one character), the story doesn’t progress past the shocked state. Aside from Eddie coming to grips with his powers the plot doesn’t progress much and the decompressed feel makes you wish there was more to the issue. Considering the solid summary to start I don’t even think the last issue was entirely necessary if you want to jump in here, which shows things are moving much too slowly. Since each check in with the characters is more of a “Oh my god I have powers” sort of thing we also don’t get as good as an idea as we did last issue who these characters are.
Did he seriously just say that?
Is It Good?
Bloodlines finds its villain and she’s ramping up the drama tenfold. Meanwhile the story progresses ever so slightly–not nearly enough if you ask me, but it’ll have your attention.
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