I may have been unduly harsh on the first issue of Automatic Kafka, so I decided to give the second issue a look and give the book another chance to impress me. Strike two, I'm afraid, because while much of this issue reads much more smoothly and clearly, as soon as the main character made his appearance again, I lost all interest. So I think more than any problems with Casey's writing or Wood's artwork, I just don't like the concept all that much, and that's hard to overcome.
This issue opens with a more straightforward story, as a government agent interrogates a former compatriot of Automatic Kafka and the superteam that he once belonged to. I'm a sucker for a good interrogation scene, and this is a good one, with the character being interrogated coming across as smug, arrogant, even a bit of a bastard, but still being likable just because of his flagrant disregard for authority and propriety. Agent Stahl also comes off well, though he is made the victim of the detainee, because he comes across as smart and distinctive.
In addition, the interrogation scene features two characters dancing around each other with dialogue, but it is more straightforward than the prior issue, and serves up plenty of backstory on Automatic Kafka and his former team. There's a lot of information imparted on these opening pages. Unfortunately, once the interrogation ends, we're right back into the too obtuse to be fun style that marred the first issue for me. The story is still relatively easy to figure out, but it smacks of being deliberately "weird for weirdness sake," which is one of my pet peeves.
I've had some harsh words for Ashley Wood in previous reviews of his work, and I'm afraid that I'm still not what you call a fan. However, having looked at this issue, I've finally clicked into the appeal of his style for others, I think. He has the power and unusual imagery that I associate with artists like Bill Sienkiewicz and Dave McKean married to a sense of design and storytelling that works uniquely in the comic form, the closest comparison to that being David Mack. All three of those artists aren't always to my cup of tea either, so that explains perhaps why Wood's work doesn't resonate with me as strongly as it seems to with others. At any rate, I found his storytelling in much of this issue easier to follow, and I have to admit that the collage of images and somewhat psychedelic imagery is well-suited to the story Casey is telling.
Ultimately, Automatic Kafka isn't a book aimed at me anyway. There are elements of the book that I enjoy, and I have to admit that this issue I have started to be intrigued by the history of Automatic Kafka and how he got to the point he is at, but it will depend on which style the creators follow more closely, the wandering drug trip or the more structured style on display in the interrogation, that will determine my interest in the book.
