Blowtorch #2

Blowtorch #2

Second Sight Publishing 2021

Created & Plot by Alfred Paige

Plot & Written by Alex De-Gruchy

Illustrated by Montos

Lettered by Saida Temofonte

After a messy assassination gets Avery’s attention, he calls in Blowtorch to track down the man responsible. Following information that leads him to a Person known as The Middleman. Blowtorch along with Pinpoint and Infrared head out to answers. But those answers will not be what they are looking for.

There is a lot of dialogue in this issue and you really have to read it and pay attention to what’s being said. This almost verges on the too much dialogue but in the end it really is worth it to tell this story like it needs to be told. I am really impressed with this fledgling publishing house and the quality of books they’ve been putting out. These are intelligently written and gorgeously illustrated books and in this case it also has this fresh, new take on superheroes and a superhero team. I am thrilled with the opportunity to get to know this character further and learn what makes him tick and how he uses his abilities. I’m also interested in seeing more about the dynamic with Blowtorch and his teammates.

I am a huge fan of the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how th reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. The character development that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances they encounter is rather magnificent to see. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing more and more of the story along with the twists & turns along the way we’re caught up in this story in some marvellous ways.

I appreciate the way that we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen depending on what avenues are opened up and then explored. The layers contain the characterisation, their assignment and Gareth and Michael with their little drama. Whether they work with the main arc or simply swirl around it they add this fantastic depth and complexity to the story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is perfectly achieved.

The interiors here are bloody mindbogglingly brilliant to see. The linework is absolutely brilliant and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create this level & quality in the detail work is astounding work. We see a fair amount of backgrounds being utilised but we could always see more since when we do see them they enhance the moments and work within the composition of the panels to bring us depth perception, a sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story. The utilisation fo the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a masterful eye for storytelling. Since this is in black & white with shades of gray it really evokes some beautiful feelings and emotions.

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Nothing about this book goes the way that I thought it would which is superb as it means that the guys are keeping me on my toes. I love that this issue will lead right into the next one which is great and makes me sad since I now have to wait to see what happens next. I really like how we see action in this book and the results of the affects as well. This is so intelligently written and mindbogglingly brilliantly illustrated that brings us into these characters world with aplomb.