Firebreak #2 is a comic created by Jay Pear. The first(fifteenth) issue was kinda light on the mystery but this one dives into the deep end. This second(sixteenth) issue jumps into the future a bit and covers some brand new villains that have a selfish plot designed to make money. Now I know the star of this comic is supposedly the title character Firebreak but he gets almost no screen time compared to the true star Ben. I won’t go too much into his background as that would spoil the mystery. But a bunch of things are happening at once and there are sides and angles that aren’t fully understood and rampant confusion. As if to counteract the wildness of the plot the dialogue is straightforward and easy to understand. When I reviewed the previous issue I saw that in a description it said that this was a mystery comic but the previous issue lacked that kind of air. Not here, here you will be lost and searching.

            I realized what sticks out to me with this art style. It’s not the fact that it looks extra smooth or that the coloring is solid and thick. It’s the stiffness. Faces look like they’ve been soaked in starch a bit too frequently. Now this isn’t very jarring or immersion-ruining, but you’ll definitely notice it. The faces are expressive though, and with a bit more softness would have greater impact. The action scenes look nice, and though there aren’t many characters on screen, they all stand out and maintain a level of uniqueness. Architecture and the environment are still high points, the world just looks nice.

“Is this worth reading?”

Yes.

“Would I like this?”

If you like mysteries involving super-powered people this is a good read.

“What would this comic’s film rating be?”

PG-13.

“Could I get a quote from the comic?”

“Don’t worry, though, we can fix that.”

 

Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ringj5/firebreak-2-supervillain-mystery-comic/description

 

***** I received this review copy for free. *****

***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***

Probably Contains Spoilers

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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 28

Violent Pages: 7, for 25% 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 – 2

“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 – 1

“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 – 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.”