The Grey #2 is a comic written by Toshi J. with art by Tiger Salmon. Shameka breaks into her job to take back her research. This is a science fiction superheroine comic that has a bit of mystery, stealthiness, and light violence. The leading lady here is Shameka Day, she is a scientist who has had a breakthrough with particle beams and black holes. The company she employed by is going to present her work to the military, and not use it to help people like Shameka thought they would. This story begins with Shameka getting dressed in all black as she prepares to break into her job. She manages to sneak in unnoticed and while going through files on the computer she sees something that shocks her and changes her plans. The violence here is a bit bloody but nothing beyond that. The pacing is faster than average overall as there are many pages that are light on words. The tone is part high tech espionage flick and part chill drama. There are a few violently intense moments and danger is high. The dialogue is conversational and upbeat for the most part with rare thought narration from Shameka. There is a singular page that toes the line of being word-heavy. This is an intriguing issue that balances high stakes infiltration and chill meet ups with friends while showing the tenacity of its lead.
The art here is drawn in a smooth and soft-looking oil painting-like style with a nice focus on lighting and shading. The coloring appears to have been done with watercolors and the palette consists of mostly darker tones. This story takes place inside buildings and in downtown areas so there isn’t any natural scenery. There are three main locations here: Shameka’s apartment, her job, and an outdoor table at a restaurant. The backgrounds do some the immediate surroundings but they tend to have monochrome coloring which causes the characters to stand out. The expression level here is a bit above-average as Shameka is constantly reacting to what goes on. Emotions on display include happiness, fear, shock, anger, and pain. The faces have an above-average to good amount of detail and show the different expressions very clearly. Violence is delivered via guns and more high-tech methods. There is a bit of blood but nothing gory or gruesome. The lone action scene flows well and has a variety of angles. Every woman here is full-bodied and thick.
“Is this worth reading?”
Yes, if this is up your alley.
“Would I like this?”
If you like science fiction superheroine stories that star a black woman and involves a bit of drama, stealthy moves, and light violence then this for you.
“What would this comic’s film rating be?”
PG-13. Violence, blood.
“Could I get a quote from the comic?”
“That was stupid Shameka. Stupid!”
Physical Link: https://www.midnightcomics.org/product-page/the-grey-issue-2
Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/midnightcomics/the-grey-issues-1-3/description
***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***
Probably Contains Spoilers
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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 27
Violent Pages: 4, for 15% of the comic
Sexy Pages: 1, for 4% of the comic
**The levels below aren’t necessarily maintained throughout the whole comic, but they were definitely reached**
Violence Level – 3
“Wasn’t no tussling at all.”
“Sometimes you gotta hit somebody.”
“I’m getting charged with how many counts of assault?”
“This was a tournament arc.”
“All my life I had to fight.”
Gore Level – 2
“The only thing leaking out your face is tears.”
“Looks like somebody spilled some ketchup.”
“Might need to soak that up with a bath towel.”
“That isn’t supposed to be outside the body.”
“This is a slaughterhouse.”
Death Level – 1
“And everybody lived happily ever after.”
“We might have gone to a couple funerals.”
“It just LOOKS like a serial killer was here.”
“Yeah this was a tragedy.”
“Think Gettysburg.”
Porn Level – 2
“Everybody kept their clothes on.”
“I guess it was too hot for a bra.”
“Sometimes you got to let everything air out.”
“This is like late night Cinemax in the early 2000’s.”
“Oh. This is porn.”
