Secret Identities #2
Writer: Brian Joines, Jay Faerber
Artist: Ilias Kyriazis, Charlie Kirchoff, Ron Riley
Publisher: Image Comics
Release Date: March 18, 2015
Cover Price: $3.50
With Secret Identities #2, this talented and energetic creative team shows they can juggle action and exposition but, they still struggle with focus because of the large cast of characters.
The complexities of Helot’s and Recluse’s characters, amongst others, are welcome, verbose depictions of the extremes that people will go to in extreme situations with Helot’s acting out and Recluse’s closed off nature. Punchline and Luminary too, are real, struggling and honest people, afraid of how to juggle their masked and unmasked lives (despite how confident Punchline pretends to be). Every character is grounded, broken, scared, and strong. Like real people are.
The problem is that no single character is strong enough yet to stand on their own and it seems that these writers are afraid to let them. Only two, maybe three pages are dedicated to each character and then? Onto the next one. It’s expansive at best and scatterbrained at worst. The focus is off. There hasn’t been enough of The Front Line together to care about the team as a whole or enough time alone with each character to care about them alone even though they all have unique and strong backstories and are wonderfully written by Joines and Faerber.
The problem is exceedingly apparent in the last pages of this issue where several storylines are updated in quick succession with little impact.
Joines and Faerber write realistic voices in unrealistic situations. Every character sings their part well but the overall chorus is jumbled.
The one thing, so far, that is absolutely spot on is how self-aware the comic is. Early on Luminary is asked if the existence of heroism is also breeding villainy, a classic trope of comic writing. What does she do? Shrug it off. It’s knowing, hinting superhero writing, acknowledging the genre but also intentionally shifting the focus to character over monolithically large and endlessly debatable moral issues. Those things matter more on a personal level anyways, Joines and Faerber seem to say.
The artistic team here, though, is firing on all cylinders. Riley’s colors are a welcome addition this issue too, where Faerber and he have collaborated wonderfully on their other book, Copperhead. The artists at work here know how to draw attention to our heroes even in big, busy spreads and, as a bonus all of those characters are interestingly designed and acting beings in and of themselves. Recluse and Helot again, are imposing and unique characters that are unrivaled in comics right now.
Overall, it’s not as a strong of an issue as the first one mostly because the problems of the first issue are more severe here and the Crosswind story isn't really here or there yet. However, everything that was good about that initial issue is good here too, maybe even better. If you’re looking for less than conventional hero stories, try this. If you can’t handle a mosaic approach, wait until the book becomes more focused or decisive.
Artist: Ilias Kyriazis, Charlie Kirchoff, Ron Riley
Publisher: Image Comics
Release Date: March 18, 2015
Cover Price: $3.50
With Secret Identities #2, this talented and energetic creative team shows they can juggle action and exposition but, they still struggle with focus because of the large cast of characters.
The complexities of Helot’s and Recluse’s characters, amongst others, are welcome, verbose depictions of the extremes that people will go to in extreme situations with Helot’s acting out and Recluse’s closed off nature. Punchline and Luminary too, are real, struggling and honest people, afraid of how to juggle their masked and unmasked lives (despite how confident Punchline pretends to be). Every character is grounded, broken, scared, and strong. Like real people are.
The problem is that no single character is strong enough yet to stand on their own and it seems that these writers are afraid to let them. Only two, maybe three pages are dedicated to each character and then? Onto the next one. It’s expansive at best and scatterbrained at worst. The focus is off. There hasn’t been enough of The Front Line together to care about the team as a whole or enough time alone with each character to care about them alone even though they all have unique and strong backstories and are wonderfully written by Joines and Faerber.
The problem is exceedingly apparent in the last pages of this issue where several storylines are updated in quick succession with little impact.
Joines and Faerber write realistic voices in unrealistic situations. Every character sings their part well but the overall chorus is jumbled.
The one thing, so far, that is absolutely spot on is how self-aware the comic is. Early on Luminary is asked if the existence of heroism is also breeding villainy, a classic trope of comic writing. What does she do? Shrug it off. It’s knowing, hinting superhero writing, acknowledging the genre but also intentionally shifting the focus to character over monolithically large and endlessly debatable moral issues. Those things matter more on a personal level anyways, Joines and Faerber seem to say.
The artistic team here, though, is firing on all cylinders. Riley’s colors are a welcome addition this issue too, where Faerber and he have collaborated wonderfully on their other book, Copperhead. The artists at work here know how to draw attention to our heroes even in big, busy spreads and, as a bonus all of those characters are interestingly designed and acting beings in and of themselves. Recluse and Helot again, are imposing and unique characters that are unrivaled in comics right now.
Overall, it’s not as a strong of an issue as the first one mostly because the problems of the first issue are more severe here and the Crosswind story isn't really here or there yet. However, everything that was good about that initial issue is good here too, maybe even better. If you’re looking for less than conventional hero stories, try this. If you can’t handle a mosaic approach, wait until the book becomes more focused or decisive.
A Look Inside
