Writers Cullen Bunn (“Harrow County,” “Manor Black”) and Kyle Strahm (“Clockwork Creature”) join authoring forces as they dig deeper in this story of ancient beasts, legends and icky science fiction. Some Spoilers Ahead!
Written by Cullen Bunn & Kyle StrahmCover by Baldemar Rivas
Illustrated & Colored by Baldemar Rivas
Lettered by Crank!More revelations of the chasm and the monsters that dwell within are brought to light. No one is safe as things turn dire for all exploring the system of tunnels and caves.
Issue #2 picks up directly after the horrific and downright disgusting discoveries and horror the team went through in the first chapter. Creature samples that were being held at the Hernandez Infirmary in Mexico are now missing. Dark visions of death, destruction and monstrous gods waiting in the dark for their return to power. The teams are moving forward with their exploration of the caves and this unknown and alien environment that is flourishing underground. While they are devoted to learning more about this ancient place and civilization, the team is equally angry at Amelia for not disclosing all the information that she had prior to them entering the caves. While she was unaware of the true dangers the were lying dormant, she did know more about what could possibly be down there than she let on.
Going into this chapter there is the overflow of dread coming from the premiere issue, but while it is intended to be sustained throughout the entire issue, it does not last long and nothing that happens in coming pages is terribly interesting. The story is not exciting and it is so similar to an entire sequence in the 2012 film Prometheus that if you have seen that movie or other movies in the horror/sci-fi genre, you will not only know exactly where this issue is going, but you will derive very little enjoyment from it. It goes through the motions, it will work for some people, but only because it is just so comfortable in the story it is telling. It does not push any boundaries.
As the story progresses and touches on its various ideas the more it leans into the roads paved by the father of cosmic horror, H.P. Lovecraft, the legends of ancient civilizations like Mayan mythology, more recent apocalyptic monster endeavors like Mike Mignola’s “BPRD: Hell on Earth,” and countless horror flicks. It checks off every stereotypical box and leaves little to the imagination. Cullen Bunn is generally a great horror writer, specifically when it comes to rural and folklore horror. It looks like this style of story may not be his forte, and hopefully he can bring his strengths to this series moving forward. And if not, it is not bad enough to tarnish his horror legacy. As Strahm mainly works on the art side of things, it is hard to discern how much of the story is his or Bunn’s and where the majority of influences over this book came from. Either way, neither writer brings anything new to the table.
Baldemar Rivas’s artwork is cool to look at. It definitely has a life of its own, standing still and moving in all directions at once. It mirrors the energy of the myriad creatures living below ground. Because so much of the finer details are masked by shadows, it gives a more dream like look to the environments. The characters are detailed well and each have enough of their own design personality to keep them from getting confused for one another. Somewhat cartoonish, but not so loose that they take on less serious tone. The way he uses light and shadow in this book is fairly impressive. As the vast majority of the issue takes place underground he greatly conveyed the full, bizarre colors throughout while still keeping things in the dark of the caves. As the light from the scientists hazmat suits or flashlights move over their targets, Rivas’s full use of color is on display and it just goes further to show how well he understands color theory.
The second issue of this new series is far from Bunn’s best work. Unfortunately, every plot point and scene written by Bunn and Strahm in this issue feels like something done in many, many other movies, shows, and comic books. Rivas’s artwork is nice to look at. He brings a gorgeous, yet nightmarish fluidity to the series that helps elevate it. His work is strong, but like the writing his style and what he is creating simply feels too similar to a lot of other sci-fi books on the shelves. It is incredibly frustrating to have such a talented team work on such a bland book that leaves so much to be desired. This issue is not offensively bad, but it is so middle of the road that it is neither worthy of note for being great or terrible.
Final Verdict: 5.0, Plenty of creatures and fun concepts stock the shelves of this second issue, and while pretty to look at, the plot and ideas are derivative of many other horror and sci-fi properties.
