BRZRKR #2

BRZRKR #2

BOOM! Studios 2021

Written by Matt Kindt & Keanu Reeves

Illustrated by Ron Garney

Coloured by Bill Crabtree

Lettered by Clem Robins

* U.S. government Doctor Diana Ahuja seeks to unlock the mysterious B.'s memories -- lifetimes of violence and tragedy like no one else who has ever lived that began with a fateful decision in ancient Mesopotamia.

* But is Diana here to help him... or is she serving a darker agenda?

I am really liking this a whole hell of a lot. Last issue after B came back and Diana started his rejuvenation process, not that he needed help mind you, she started asking a lot of questions about his past and what he remembers but what she’s really looking for becomes even clearer this issue. I didn’t trust her at the end of the first issue and I trust her even less now that I’ve read the entire second issue and that I believe is the point. We have become so incredibly engaged and invested in what we see here that have that innate desire to see how her role in all this actually plays out and why she needs exactly what it was his mother before his birth that made him the way he is.

I am totally loving the way that this is being told. How we see the story & plot development constantly moving forward through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. The character development that we see is staggering in how much we are able to learn. That this is basically one huge character driven issue and surprisingly it as the strewn throughout that showcases his past from his birth to his teenage years that really help define him and who he’s going to become. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing more and more of the story it is difficult not be drawn into what we see.

How this is being structured and with the layers within the story continuing to emerge, grow and evolve we see more clearly how things are actually moving along. Dirty Diana, yeah sing it with me, now when she gets what is coming to her well I won’t be sad and that’s one layer what’ll be glorious to see play out. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is done extremely well.

I think the interiors here are fabulous. The linework is great and how we see the varying weights being utilised to create the detail work is stupendous. There are some moments that pop brighter than a firework, and that two-page spread where his mum gets pregnant yeah that’s the biggie right there. Honestly I wish we’d see more backgrounds being utilised but how the composition within the panels brings us depth perception, as sense of scale and that overall sense of size and scope to the book it’s forgivable. The creativity and imagination that we see in how the violence is so prevalent and yet not as gory as I would imagine it should be is well achieved. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a supremely talented eye for storytelling. The colour work we see through how the various hues and tones within the colours are utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is rendered incredibly well.

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The concept and its execution are really rather well done and that we see things from a myriad of different angles, some of which show or reinforce what we believe is smartly done. The writing is intelligent and fascinating while it engages the reader and lets them think about what gaps haven’t filled as of yet and for what possible reason things keep getting brought up. The repetition while a good tool to get one to remember, sometimes out of sheer frustration, is telling for other reasons as well. This is a great collaborative effort and it really finds a more plausible reason for his existence. What comes next, well the magic 8-ball says it’s unclear so we’ll have to come back to see.