Written by Brendan Small, Jon Schnepp & Jeremy Barlow
Illustrated by Lucas MaragnonAn especially brutal Dethklok gig has resulted in the destruction of Helsinki, in no small part due to a gargantuan troll accidentally awakened from the depths of Lake Bodom. Now Dethklok have returned to the scene, seeking to make amends, not knowing that there are worse things waiting for them in the blackness of the lake. Meddling with the supernatural can only lead to one thing . . . new pets for the band?
The comic book adventure of everyone’s favorite fictional death metal band continues! After last issue’s hilariously well constructed antics, #2 manages to continue the upward trend of the first issue and created another fantastic addition to the ongoing Dethklok legend. Click below for thoughts galore!
Much like last issue saw Brendan Small and crew inject just as much charm, hilarity and violence into Dethklok’s print adventures as they do to their animated adventures, this issue was almost non-stop laughs as the boys revisited one of their best (although apparently harrowing) moments from the show. Simply put: Dethtroll is one of my all time favorite episodes of Metalocalypse. This issue saw the band return to Finland after mistakenly summoning Mustakrakish the lake troll, which destroyed much of the country (as see in the episode.) However, it appears as if their managed, Charles Offdensen, has convinced the boys that trolls do not exist and that they were all just very very high the last time they were in Finland. However, the boys know they distinctly remember almost getting killed by a troll (it is, after all, haunting their dreams.) So after spending much of the issue researching trolls to prove they do exist (with Toki deciding he wants nothing more than a baby troll for a pet), they return to Finland to once again apologize to its citizenry. A brief interlude to Salatia’s board of shadowy figures reveals the very real examples of magic and mysticism that the government attempts to cover up and introduced us to a cult of Mustakrakish worshippers with very unique traditions that could spell doom for the Dethklok boys. However, after finally deciding that trolls (and half-man, half-ape, half horse centaurs) do exist, they return to Finland proceed to accidentally summon not one, but TWO lake trolls. As Lake Trolls are wont to do, they proceed to engage in battle, destroying Finland once again, until one dies and the other is put back to sleep. The issue ends on a brutally cute scene featuring Toki and his brand new pet.
Frankly, the story this issue is better than few of Season 2’s episodes. Like I mentioned in my review of #1, the comic medium allows the creative team to explore these characters in a more detailed and sincere way than the fast-paced nature of the show. Although interestingly enough, it seems that only Murderface is getting the fleshed out back-story treatment within the pages of this mini (first last issue, and again this one.) However, the personality and genuine warmth (yes, warmth) of the series is still very much intact, and true members of the Church of Dethklok will find a lot to love here.
On the art end, Lucas Maragnon manages to mimic the show’s animation quite well. So well, in fact, that his work doesn’t REALLY have much personality on its own. The colors and bright, the lines are crisp, the facial expressions are detailed (if not a little flat), but overall there isn’t much here to differentiate it much from the show itself. Which, as an adaptation, makes it perfect…but as art that stands on its own it…well, doesn’t.
Overall, solid story by the minds behind the show and art that adequately brings the animation from the small screen to the printed page is really all one can ask with a book like this…and it delivers in spades.
Final Verdict: 8.8 — Total F*ckin Metal (AKA Buy)
