I’ll admit it: I was a tad suspect. Because while I totally believed that Joey Esposito and Sean Von Gorman had a great, deeply human story of everyday life in the works, I wondered how The Pedestrian might achieve its “cosmic” end goals. But as we come to the second issue of The Pedestrian, all that doubt’s mostly faded, blown apart by the sheer layers and overall approach of this deeply exciting, wholly novel new series.
If you left The Pedestrian #1 with a love for its quirky slice-of-life tales from Summer City, issue #2 has even more in store. Esposito’s narrative work continues to be like a warm friend telling you about their day. We not only got more face-time with Kira (who was saved by The Pedestrian in #1 as she dealt with her own existential dread), but also twins Syd and Jeremy, who continue to be a really interesting emotional core for this book and perhaps a lynchpin just as much as our heroic speed-walker. But we also get a new friend to meet in Sophie, the crossing guard from issue #1 who 1) is another great aspect of the richness of this city and 2) perhaps tied to the larger happenings in a way you may or may not suspect.
Variant cover by Mike McKone. Courtesy of Magma Comix.
Either way, her infusion in The Pedestrian is more of what the book does great: relatable people in interesting situations in life; layered storytelling that never feels phoned in or hokey; and a storyline that unfolds in glorious manner. (Kira, for instance, has some of her own story mirrored with an episode of Lazer Titans in this really subtle but massively brilliant little trick.)
And right there with Esposito is Von Gorman (and colorist Josh Jensen). I sorta commented in my review of issue #1 that The Pedestrian is basically Love and Rockets if Michael Allred had done it instead. And while that’s very true in The Pedestrian #2, it certainly short-sells the art team.
There’s this kind of vividness to the whole world, and whether we’re back at the crossing walk or hanging out at the local Pizza Sun, you feel the power and intention of this world. It’s this big, beaming cartoon as much as it’s something real and textured, and you engage with this style/approach in a way that the mundane feels exciting even as more robust action (like a neat little escape from The Pedestrian) feels even bigger (without being disconnected from those vital “roots”). Even in other parts of the issue, like the Lazer Titans episode (drawn by “David Bowie Rendon-Gorman” and Micah Williams), there’s still this sense of organic groundedness to the world even as we’re clearly looking at something truly fantastical.
Courtesy of Magma Comix.
Through these efforts, the art team tells us that it’s all one big connective experience, and every feeling and every idea about this story has equal meaning and value. That all moments are some level of mundane and accessible and wild and bizarre — that this is a place boiling over with things to say and offer, and we only need to take it all in for things to land with true power and intent.
But there’s another reason for this. As mentioned, The Pedestrian #2 starts to really make good on those aforementioned cosmic threads/intentions. And while I won’t spoil what they are, let’s just say one involves the troubled James and our mysterious foe seemingly opposing The Pedestrian. And the other involves The Pedestrian and his aforementioned villainous foil. They are, to varying degrees, a massive step forward for The Pedestrian‘s story from both a narrative and visual sense.
The James stuff, admittedly, is a little more “tame,” but it’s still enough to start poking you in the lizard brain that Summer City is in for something truly intense. And the stuff with The Pedestrian is a massive leap forward, this kind of extra disarming, Jack Kirby-esque slice of intergalactic wonder that will destroy the last thoughts that The Pedestrian is yet another quirky superhero tale. And yet it very much is, and we’re meant to mostly occupy the Grand Canyon-sized chasm between these ideas/aesthetics. Only that process is only discombobulating in the very best sense as the book’s art and story have totally prepared us for this “turn” or “reveal.”
Courtesy of Magma Comix.
So we get to swim around this “cosmic void” with the love and support of great creators, each of whom have prepared our hearts and minds for this story to feel adorably small, unknowingly huge, and unwaveringly potent. It’s a powerful experience where all of it’s true, nothing’s written in stone, and we can really occupy this world in a wholly inventive manner. What’s it all mean? I have no clue yet, but we’re going to figure it out as one giant, multi-reality-panning family.
Maybe in addition to being intrinsically suspect, I also have issues with needless worrying/anxiety. Because, even momentarily, I thought about what might happen if The Pedestrian gets too big — if it leaves behind the relatability and community of Summer City for something even more strange and gargantuan. But just as they assuaged my disbelief, I feel like Esposito, Von Gorman, and company can keep delivering a story that balances its many parts in perfect working fashion.
Because ultimately we’re not following a city, a hero, or even a fictional universe. We’re engaging with these creators to explore ideas of community, purpose/destiny, and the true scope of the world. And I have very few reasons to doubt that they won’t deliver even more magic.
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