Resistance: Uprising #2

Resistance: Uprising #2

AWA Upshot Studios 2021

Written by J. Michael Straczynski

Illustrated by C.P. Smith

Lettered by Snakebite Cortez

In the wake of the assassination of their leader, the Resistance is in disarray, disconnected from each other and hunted by authorities around the world – including an army of "reborns" recruited by the American government. To avert decimation at the hands of a fascistic government crackdown, the Resistance must discover the ace up their sleeve, and then the key to unlocking it.

Now i was impressed by the first arc and then the first issue was shocking and amazing so what could they do in the second issue to up the ante? I wasn’t sure but i’ll be hogtied if this issue doesn’t meet or surpass what we saw last issue. The opening here is sensational and really does a number of things that it should be doing, it sets the stage for the issue and grabs the readers attention and imagination making them want to see more. It should really come as no surprise considering that it is Straczynski doing the writing here as he’s one of the more well known and premiere writers for a myriad of mediums.

I love 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 the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. There is a way that we see these events happening that makes completely perfect sense and that’s part of why this is so enjoyable. The character development is amazing and if you need proof look to Tex and to William to really understand the depth and complexity that Straczynski has infused into these characters. The pacing here is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing more and more of the story the more intense it becomes. We see some outstanding bonding through shared events that’s just stupendous.

I love how we see this bring structured and how the layers within the story continue to grow, strengthen, evolve and emerge. That nothing is stagnant everything moves forward and that is so important to how the story evolves and this is a master storyteller doing what he does best. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow is just so well achieved.

The interiors here are absolutely mind numbingly brilliant to see. The linework is utterly exquisite and how the varying techniques and weights are utilised to create this level and quality of detail work in what we see is truly outrageous. That we see backgrounds being utilised as extensively as they are is inspiring and to see how they work within the composition within the panels so they bring out such depth perception, sense of scale as well as the overall sense of size and scope of the story is magnificent to see. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels showcase such a masterful eye for storytelling. The colour work is divine! How we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work which showcases a brilliant eye for colour and what its capable of doing.

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This is such a spectacular story that is being told in parts, each arc takes us through moments in the lives of these characters. This allows Straczynski to really focus on moments instead of trying to make things fit into a specific amount of space which makes this that much more poignant of a story. While the big sweeping epics are kind of crammed into seven issues these days it is the format that we’re seeing here where that sweeping epic is going to really shine. This is how it needs to be done, create something folks are going to remember and continue to talk about long after it’s over.