Our superheroes face off with psychic Japanese villain Raikou, battling through different levels of consciousness to assume her powers and recruit Repro for their team. While the villains seize cities and begin their stranglehold on the global economy, will faces from the past distract our heroes from their goal?– Image Comics
Is it good?
Jupiter’s Legacy 2 #2 (Image Comics)
The Breakdown
Jupiter’s Legacy 2 #2 is a solid issue, just like the last. It improves by ratcheting up the excitement and story a bit, starting off with a big action sequence and raising the stakes somewhat with the baddies (the villains are getting more vicious and wild). Things are certainly getting far more interesting for the series now, setting up for a big, epic clash in the future.
On the flipside to that, there’s still not much story going on and this issue was lacking in characterization and development. While there was some subtle characterization–like Walter losing control over his nephew or Repro’s quirky uses of his powers–there’s very little with the main characters and the majority of their group feels like blank slates. The story developments were pretty much confined to the final four or five pages, some of which were spoiled by the solicitations for the series, so there isn’t much here to get enthralled in. By the end of the issue, it still didn’t feel like it was worth the price of admission with how little content there was.
Stop shining that irritating light on my mom!
What keeps of this book afloat is Mark Millar’s writing. The comic is reasonably well-paced, even if it’s decompressed in areas (like the fight scene). There are no awkward transitions between any of the scenes in the book, jumping back and forth between many of the series’ various characters without getting disorienting. The ending is executed well and offers interesting character moments. The dialogue is genuinely better here and still feels pretty human, like in the ending scene. There is one exception to that though and it is when Raikou starts monologuing about her powers and her backstory. While beneficial for us as readers, it makes no sense in story why she does that and it feels so forced and awkward in its execution.
Then there is Frank Quitely’s artwork and it remains about the same as in the last issue. The good part is that he is still very much capable of constructing some really good layouts and action. You can really sense the motion and movement in a character as they fight or move around, except for a few panels. He’s also good here with drawing beautiful looking locations and some stunning shots, like when the bomb goes off. Though again, he still has difficulty with drawing the actual characters. No one ever really looks their age in the comic due to the amount of the lines in their faces and they are not often capable conveying the right emotion or feeling. It can leave scenes or moments feeling rather hollow or unintentionally goofy.
Is It Good?
Jupiter’s Legacy 2 #2 is a decent continuation of the last issue, but it still feels lacking. There were some developments, but neither the story nor the characters felt like they advanced all that much. The writing is fine and the art is good to a certain degree. Ultimately, while not a bad comic, the second issue doesn’t really do much to hook you in. Hopefully the next issue is where things start really picking up.
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