The Dead Princess Vicky Styx #2 is a comic written by JayDee Rosario with illustrations by Donny Hadiwidjaja with colors by Champe. Vicky must steal a powerful artifact in order to save a friend. This is a supernatural comic with violent action, demon manipulation, and a bit of treasure hunting. The leading lady here is Vicky Styx, she is a woman with a reputation for protecting supernatural creatures and beings from those who would harm or take advantage of them. She is an aggressive person and she’s skilled in hand-to-hand combat; she is also effective with multiple weapons. This story begins with Vicky lamenting her friend Danny who is lying in pieces on the street after a fall from a tall building. As Danny literally pulls himself together he and Vicky go inside so she can speak to the soul broker who keeps making him jump. This takes place in a world where supernatural beings and creatures aren’t out of the ordinary. Violence here can be very bloody and gruesome but it is usually just destructive. The first half of this comic leans more slow and steady while the latter half is fast-paced. This has a modern magic vibe seemingly like the show Supernatural(I’ve never watched it). There are multiple violently intense moments with a few dramatic ones and significant undertones. Dialogue here is aggressive and direct with decent back-and-forth. There aren’t any word-heavy pages here. This is an intriguing sequel issue with a grim story that shows us a more compassionate side to the tough and unflinching Vicky Styx.
The art here is drawn in a somewhat smoothly detailed modern style with good use of lighting and shading. The color palette is realistic and leans towards the darker side of the spectrum as this takes place at night; there is a lot of brown and grey. This takes place in a downtown area so there isn’t much scenery besides trees outside of a church and a quick look at a medieval forest. There are two primary locations here: a high rise building and a large prestigious church. Backgrounds do a great job of consistently showing the actual surroundings which adds some weight to each scene. The expression level here is low as none of these characters really show how they feel. Emotions we will see include shock, happiness, and sadness. Faces sport an above-average amount of detail so the different looks are usually clear. Halberd-like polearms are the main weapon here. There is some heavy gore and multiple gruesome moments along with pools of blood; environmental destruction is also prominent. The main action scene is lengthy with multiple angles and an above-average panel count and an unconfusing flow.
“Is this worth reading?”
Yes, if this is up your alley.
“Would I like this?”
If you like supernatural stories that star a woman and feature violent action, demon dealings, and treasure hunting then this is for you.
“What would this comic’s film rating be?”
R. Violence, blood, gore, gruesomeness.
“Could I get a quote from the comic?”
“I know, I know. But that’s the contract, Vicky.”
Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jaydeerosario/vicky-styx-the-dead-princess-2/description
***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***
Probably Contains Spoilers
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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 23
Violent Pages: 11, for 48% of the comic
Sexy Pages: 0, for 0% of the comic
**The levels below aren’t necessarily maintained throughout the whole comic, but they were definitely reached**
Violence Level – 4
“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 – 5
“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 – 2
“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 – 1
“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.”
