The Family Trade #2

Written by: Justin Jordan & Nikki Ryan
Art by: Morgan Beem
Published by: Image

The second issue of The Family Trade continues to build on a strong first issue as we continue to learn about this new world that Jordan, Ryan and Beem are creating as well as getting to learn more about our heroine Jessa.

I think, after reading these first two issues, that I may become quite fond of the characters in this series since none of them, as of yet, seem like larger-than-life characters. They are very human, and that is quite refreshing. As we learned in the first issue, Jessa is part of “The Family”: an organization, who all happen to be related, that has set themselves up as the keepers of this island. They make sure that no one person gets too much power to tip the balance.

Enter Jessa. Our heroine, from the first page, has proven that she is willing to give it her all for the Family and to fulfill what is asked of her. However, what we begin to learn is that even though she has some skill in this department, she is not an expert and seems to have some awful luck when on her missions.

Jordan and Ryan smartly demonstrate this during her first mission of this issue when everything seems to be going well for Jessa, however, she made one very fatal miscalculation that could have led to her capture if it wasn’t for the interference of an unlikely ally. We also get to see what the other side of the coin looks like for a member of the Family who can’t cut it out in the field when we meet one of Jessa’s cousins. We quickly learn, from Jessa, that this is exactly what she hopes never to become and this gives her motivation to do better.

Beem’s painted art continues to impress in this second issue and I would recommend this series on Beem’s art alone.The red cheeks that Beem seems to give to everyone can be a little distracting, but otherwise, each page is beautifully painted and helps sell the story as it unfolds.