Bedlam #2

As Fillmore’s rehabilitation into society continues, his grip on what’s real and what’s not starts to crumble and in his current state, the only reflection he sees in the mirror… is that of Madder Red!

The Team

Written by Nick Spencer (Morning Glories, Shuddertown HC, Fear Itself : Secret Avengers), illustrated by Riley Rossmo (Wild Children GN, Green Wake Vol. 1, Rebel Blood), coloured by Jean-Paul Csuka. Cover by Frazer Irving (Fort : Prophet of the Unexplained!). Published by Image Comics.

The Pros & Cons

Welcome to the strange & twisted world of Bedlam, leave your opened mind (and brains) at the door. This mini series takes the criminally insane mind of a super villain and puts it underneath a microscope and says “What do we got here?” The first issue introduced us to the warped mind of one messed up villain and the consequences of his criminal rampages. This second issue, trippy as it is, introduces us to a killer with angelic proportions, which Fillmore is somehow connected to, whether he wants to or not. The plot flips from past and present between Madder Red’s hallucinatory bad trips and his adjustment as Fillmore, a man desperately trying to fit back into society.

Writer Nick Spencer’s dark side shines and blinds you like a flashlight in your eyes, not since Morning Glories has his work been so disturbing. Fillmore’s downward spiral made me question his surroundings. His eerie pale faced doctor seems real, but what’s with his freakish Frankenstein nurses? Are they real? These questions kept me wanting more, craving the next issue like a dog begging for a treat.

Riley Rossmo’s beautiful & savage illustrations paint every page like you’re looking at a madhouse through a kaleidoscope. The two-page spread of Madder Red getting lobotomized is a Where’s Waldo gone bat shit crazy, I kept staring at it, trying to decipher it like those old 90’s posters with the hidden pictures within it and masked with jumbled up colours (you know like the ones from Mallrats).

The Outcome

Not as mind blowing as the first issue, but still peaked my interest and kept me glued to every discomforting panel. Move over Joker, there’s a new madman in town and his name is Madder Red!