After yet another unmotivated, bloody murder occurs in NYC, Detectives Bently and Marlow return to the scene of an old crime to try and find answers. Meanwhile, Seth steps into the spotlight at a Q&A session regarding his previous true crime book—an event that receives some decidedly unwelcome visitors…
You’ll Do Bad Things #1 introduced us to Seth. Suffering from a strange form of writer’s block, he can’t seem to get through a page of his new romance novel without killing someone off. Stranger still was when these murders started to occur in real life. It was a fun issue that blurred the lines of reality with a fun, grisly murder mystery at the centre.
You’ll Do Bad Things #2 misses a beat by not following up on this unique premise, though. The issue continues to foster the same moody tone as the previous one, but the story here feels a little unsatisfactory. There’s nothing here to distinguish it from a typical slasher. The appeal of the first issue was the trippy premise, but You’ll Do Bad Things #2 loses sight of this.
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Instead of following Seth’s spiraling mental health, we’re introduced to some humdrum police detectives investigating the most recent murder. There’s not much to these characters. My biggest takeaway from them is that Marlow—the senior detective—apparently doesn’t believe in murderers having motivations or reasons for their killings. The younger Detective Bently calls him out on this, but the idea of a senior detective in New York City not believing that the field of criminal psychology has any merit broke my suspension of disbelief.
To circle back to some positives: once again, You’ll Do Bad Things #2 looks simply gorgeous thanks to Adriano Turtulici lines, inks, and colors. The issue physically feels haunted and bloodstained, and the action feels ripped from a nightmare. This gloomy atmosphere is the best part of the book.
Similarly, Hassan Otsman-Elhaou’s lettering work continues to impress: a scream with no word balloon; a thought bubble actually popping when something catches a character’s eye; dialogue clipped by the frame of the panel to show us that Seth isn’t really paying attention to them. Everything about this lettering works to immerse and involve the reader in the story.
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Said story simply isn’t as good as the previous issue. It’s not outright bad, it’s just pointed in the wrong direction. The Q&A’s interruption was decently tense, but the ten-page chase scene that followed—while well-drawn—didn’t need that much screentime, nor did it culminate in a satisfying way. The detective’s investigation also introduces a new seemingly supernatural element to the plot that feels a little out of place for now.
The biggest misstep was the lack of focus on Seth, though. He’s our main character, and I feel like we haven’t built up enough momentum with him to divert away to other characters for the bulk of an issue just yet. Still, seeing as this is just the latest installment in a serialized narrative, I’m confident that future issues will return to what made the first issue so compelling.
(Also, I might have an idea of who the killer is—if I’m right I promise to be honest when we find out later in the series. It could be a red herring, of course, so I’ll reserve judgment until we know more.)
Ultimately, You’ll Do Bad Things #2 feels like a step down from the previous issue. Answers to this mystery are still a ways off, of course, but instead of escalating the stakes, making things personal for Seth, showcasing his crumbling reality, or developing the intriguing backstory that is surely motivating these killings, the story mostly stalls. Nevertheless, some fantastic art and lettering—and the near guarantee that things will have to get back on track soon—still make this a worthwhile read.
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