by Randy Lander

GUNWITCH: OUTSKIRTS OF DOOM #2 Mildly Recommended (6/10) Oni Press Writer: Dan Brereton Artist: Ted Naifeh Letters: John Dranski Editor: Jamie S. Rich Price: $2.95 US I enjoyed the first issue of this one quite a bit, and so I came in with higher expectations for the second issue. I found the second issue a bit hard to follow, honestly, with the various characters on either side of the turf war in town not terribly well-established in motivations or personalities, and though Brereton and Naifeh are still quite adept at making the silent Gunwitch's feelings and thoughts known, they are ironically not as skilled at making the more vocal members of the supporting cast come to life. The odd thing is, this plot is relatively straightforward, but in attempting to add more twists and backstory, the creators only muddied the water, turning a very strong story into one with a bit of a weak spot in the middle. I'm hoping they'll return with a strong finish next issue. Probably the most impressive thing about this particular book is the fact that the lead character is someone who doesn't speak, doesn't have thought balloons or a very expressive face, basically doesn't have any way of expressing himself other than through action, and yet it's easy to read what he's thinking. Part of that has to do with Brereton establishing Gunwitch as something of a heroically-minded gunslinger with an affection for children, but a lot of it is down to Naifeh's incredible storytelling. A quick pan over to Gunwitch at the right time shows us when he's considering changing allegiances, and when we see Gunwitch pull out his guns, we know he's about to get into something heavy. I also appreciate that Brereton has humanized one of the main villains by giving her a weakness, a relative she cares very deeply for. They say even Hitler liked dogs, so it seems fair that a villain would have something she cares about, and it makes her more real. It also has the side bonus of putting an innocent right into the midst of this seemingly no-win battle between two sets of bad guys, and gives Gunwitch a stronger mission while in town. On the other hand, while I enjoyed learning about Goodnight's family, the exposition here is clumsily handled. The history between her and Fang is explained well, largely because it's left off-screen, but when Brereton focuses in on telling us the backstory, things start to get confusing. Goodnight's tale of Sage and how she came to look after Clarissa is clear in general, but the specifics of what happened are not at all clear, even with multiple readings, and the introduction of questionable loyalties in Goodnight's gang later on makes it even harder to figure out what's going on. It's entirely possible that Brereton is deliberately placing the reader in a position similar to that of Gunwitch, unable to know for sure who is really on whose side, but he's doing it a little too well. The base concept of this mini was pretty simple, a war between two clans of vampires with Gunwitch stuck in the middle. The addition of family politics, past romance, outside vampire slayers and loyalties that change on just about every page, rather than strengthening that simple premise, make it a bit of a struggle to read. Which is a shame, because the base concepts and characters are still very interesting and well-drawn. Email Randy Lander comments about this review.