This highly-anticipated series has already turned some heads — and some stomachs — with its first issue, which was, for one, enormous, for two, unconventional, and for three, intricate and quite disturbing. This second issue follows a similar non-linear timeline but reads a little more smoothly as we become more in step with Fillmore’s daily life, and learn a little bit more about his past.
Written by Nick Spencer
Illustrated by Riley Rossmo“Swing Low.”
This issue opens with a new pair of characters, and a meeting at a diner that quickly goes south. The scene seems out of place until we get to the last page of the issue, when we’re reminded of it in a rather shocking way, and that’s where we begin to get a more definite sense of where this series is going (even though there were some hints in that direction in the first issue). And yes, that’s a terribly vague way of putting things, but my point here is that this series is taking shape, and rather than losing something as it moves away from the histrionics of the first issue, it’s actually becoming that much more interesting.
As for the bulk of the issue, it’s split between flashbacks from Fillmore’s “treatment” and scenes set in the present day, where Fillmore is dealing with the consequences of the semi-heroic deed we saw him accomplish last month. Obviously, he’s being monitored very closely, and those in charge of his continuing “recovery” aren’t exactly enthusiastic about this new direction. But then — as the flashbacks quickly inform us — those in charge of his recovery are far from trustworthy themselves. This point is made in a less than subtle manner, hammered home with a disturbing splash page that leaves us in no doubt as to why Fillmore is the way he is.
That said, for a story about a reformed serial killer, there are some quieter moments in this issue, relaying us information that we don’t quite know what to do with yet. It’s indicated that Detective Acevedo is going to continue to be a key player, for one, and while we don’t learn much about her as of yet, it’s clear that she’s going to be a formidable presence. Overall, the pace is fairly leisurely, and Spencer seems intent on keeping us wondering about a few plot points. Most importantly, while Fillmore’s reformation is no longer a mystery, the politics behind it certainly are, and it doesn’t look like we’re going to be getting any easy answers in that direction for a while. This tendency makes “Bedlam” #2 a slightly frustrating read, but it’s the kind of frustration that stems from absorption and investment in the story, and may well be the desired effect as Spencer carefully parses out the plot and builds the suspense.
Jean-Paul Csuka’s colours, meanwhile, maintain the same division as last issue, with the quick glimpse we get of Madder Red coming through in stark red and whites, while the everyday scenes look much muddier, all sickly greens and browns. The shocking scene we get at the end, however, flares into bright pinks and bright purples, lending the scene that much more energy.
Rossmo’s work adopts a slightly different mode from last issue as he sets about fleshing out Fillmore’s everyday world. It’s a bit messier than Madder Red’s, for one, as the lines are looser, sometimes punctuated by an extraneous scrawl to suggest movement. The overall feeling is of dubiously controlled chaos — which fits in rather nicely with what we now know about Fillmore, as it happens. And while we’re on the subject of Fillmore, his characterization is very nicely handled here. While last issue we saw mostly his masked persona, here we get to know the “changed” individual, and in the odd mannerisms and earnest facial expressions Rossmo strikes exactly the right balance between creepy and oddly charming. We know now that Fillmore is not some integrally healed person (of course, I don’t think we suspected that to begin with); this is a person with all kinds of gaps in his personality, and so, pairing up nicely with all the non-sequiturs that Spencer gives him to say, Rossmo gives him the movements and expressions of a precocious 6-year-old. It is definitely eerie, and oddly compelling — just about right in a story where, ostensibly, the former serial killer is the hero.
This story is fast becoming something that sticks to your brainpan and builds itself a nice little home there, which is to say it is completely disturbing and messed up, but it’s got appeal beyond the shock factor. There’s something else going on here, something compelling and introspective that, more than any other single element in the book, signals that this is a story with momentum and staying power. Slow paced as it is, there’s every indication here that this series is going to be one heck of a ride.
Final Verdict: 8.8 — Buy
