A trip to two different stores looking for the four books that came out the first two weeks this month yielded. . . one comic? So we're back to that again. I guess that means the books I look are not popular with anyone else, so the stores don't stock more than are specifically requested. I don't have my finger on the pulse of the comic-buying audience. What else is new?
The Jaogkai Death Cult animate the burger restaurant mascot, but have to wait until Jenny finishes her beer before she fights it. If she took it seriously it probably would have been quick, but she's drunk and/or fucking around and gets in a bit of trouble, which Dana helps her with. It's a decent enough fight scene. King's good at adding the details that show the progression of the action from one panel to the next. There's also a panel of Jenny running up the mascot's arm and growing larger with each step I thought was well done. The Director plays the gruff but reluctantly approving authority figure, but gives in to Jenny's demand that her father's friend Fujimoto (who got arrested after trying to help Jenny in the previous mini-series) be released to work with her.
There are also more flashbacks to when Jenny's father first manifested his powers, which is tied to his first meeting with Fujimoto. Robles uses more blues and purples in coloring those scenes compared to the present day. Even the part where her father first woke up in some sci-fi med unit feels different from Jenny and Dana speaking with the director in the sci-fi HQ. The colors aren't as harsh or bright. A difference in Fujimoto's genuine concern for Kenji compared to the Director's lack of the same? Or something about the flashbacks being a second-hand experience, or that time smooths the edges off memories?
That the flashbacks prominently feature Fujimoto feels important beyond the fact Jenny demands his release. Jenny's been reading her father's diary, but the Director knows she has it (and it makes me wonder if Jenny's copy is the actual diary or something the Director modified). In theory Fujimoto offers another perspective on the events. He could see through any deceptions or alterations the Director has implanted. Or she could be using him to undermine what Jenny learns from the diary.
As frustrating as it is that I have no idea whether I can actually trust any of what I'm reading in this comic, it does at least give me something to think about. Otherwise, my primary takeaway would be that Dwonch and McKinney play up the smart-ass aspect of Jenny and Dana too much. They won't stop talking, which is admittedly part of Jenny's character, but Dana had been the more sensible one in the first series. The voice of reason. Now she's egging Jenny on. Which, again, makes me question whether any of this is real from a, Watsonian perspective, I guess.
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