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Is It Good? Mythic #2 Review

Comic Books

Is It Good? Mythic #2 Review

The first issue of Mythic laid down an intriguing premise, showing us a world where science is a waste of time because magic and the supernatural rule supreme just under our noses. It had troubles, but now that comic has gotten past the setup stage, it can move on to the meat of the comic. Is it good?


Mythic #2 (Image Comics)


mythic-2-cover

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So as Mythic Lore Services Field Team #8 deals with a drought problem involving wind and mountain monsters, we see another team in action. This team is dealing with giants… and then shit hits the fan quickly.

Mythic #2 is an odd one to me. On one hand, the issue felt better than the first in some areas. More specifically, it provided us with a plot of sorts. Heck, we even got a villain (possibly) by the end of the issue and some intrigue around this individual. On the other hand, the comic still feels lacking and leaves a bit to be desired.

Story-wise, this issue wraps up the conflict involving the drought and the creature that was summoned. That’s only one half of the comic though. The other half deals with this giant reawakening and another team investigating why that is happening. Both of these parts serve a purpose in establishing this ongoing threat that is appearing around the world and showing how the organization of Mythic operates when dealing with situations. There’s also something big that happens at the end liked mentioned, thought that’s probably the weakest part of the story. It’s weak, because it’s vaguely defined or explained what is going on. Oh sure, one could say that’s very early and we are not supposed to know exactly what is happening, but it feels like it goes beyond that. I really have no idea what these characters are talking about in the slightest or what the writer is trying to get a cross due to the dialogue sounding overly mysterious and nebulous.

mythic-2-wind

The other point of the story, at least so far, that feels a bit troubling is something else that happens at the end. The big thing is that all of the field teams for Mythic are completely down and most likely dead, according to home base. It feels like the writer should have waited for a while before doing something this big and “shocking”. We are only two issues in and we have barely gotten to know what this organization is like outside of two field teams in action (one of which is destroyed before doing anything). It would have been way more effective if we had gotten to see the scope of this business, the other people involved, and more so this devastation would have had a bigger impact and meant more.

Phil Hester’s writing is pretty good overall. The pacing is fine and keeps the story moving quickly. The storytelling and structure of the book are both good as well, but feature some trivial points where there is some awkwardness in the transitions (the final scene feels like it is missing page for instance). The dialogue isn’t bad, but feels bland and unremarkable. The dialogue is mostly plot driven or heavy on the exposition, with not much emotion shown outside of one instance at the end. Though the real problem for the comic is that it is still very light on the characterization. We honestly don’t know anything more about our main characters outside of the small details in the opening recap and to even a further extend, still haven’t seen much of their teamwork in action either. I don’t expect to know everything about a character right away obviously, but some bit of personality or characterization would be very nice to help me and the rest of the audience care about these players.

mythic-2-sky

John McCrea’s artwork is probably the strongest point of the comic, but it’s not without its own snags. McCrea’s layouts are nicely put together and easy to follow (though reading in PDF format, like I did for this review, is not recommended at all). The characters look striking and are easy to tell apart, while the creativity with the monster and demon designs are eye-catching with the amount of detail and uniqueness of them. In comparison to the first issue, there felt like a lot less wasted spaced and McCrea did a better job of using the pages. However, some of the transitions between panels and scenes can be very awkward, due to how jumpy and random the cuts feel at times. Also, sometimes there are some odd continuity hiccups, like a character not originally being next to a person, is suddenly next to them. It’s not major, but detracts from the quality of the art.

Is It Good?

Mythic #2 is a comic that has taken a step forward, but also a step backwards as well. The story improved overall, though everything still feels a bit vague. The writing is fine and the artwork looks great in general. However, the characterization is an afterthought in this issue, almost like the first one, and the dialogue leaves a lot to be desired. This is a comic that could be great with a little work, but right now it’s bordering on just being okay. Hopefully there’s an upswing soon.

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