I was pretty surprised and blown away by the first issue of Forsaken, and though it's tough to maintain that same "shock of the new" in subsequent issues, the second issue gives me hope that Forsaken will indeed be a fun and interesting science-fiction/action book. We're still in premise and set-up mode, which means that a decent chunk of this issue is given over to talking as the characters catch up to where the readers have already guessed things are going, but there's also a terrific little gun fight and chase sequence and hints of political and social upheaval that have my curiosity piqued. Forsaken hangs its hat on great action and a stark, unique visual style, but it's got brains and complexity underneath.
There are only teases of the world of Forsaken in this issue, because the story is being told more or less from the point of view of the protagonists. So the things they know, like the situation with aliens living a dual existence with humans, are glossed over, while things the reader has guessed, such as the setup of this new strike team The Relmers, are given more detail than it needs from a reader point-of-view. It's structurally honest, but maybe not the ideal setup, as I'm much more interested in the tales of a dual-culture world where alien culture and technology has helped repair some of the damage (ecological and social) that mankind has done to itself than in another scene of tarnished heroes being blackmailed into doing the right thing.
Fortunately, as with the first issue, Treffiletti takes cliche elements and gives them a stylistic spin that makes them entertaining. The blackmail of the group is a great device to introduce the characters to the reader, and though this kind of scene was done to perfection in Usual Suspects, Treffiletti's take has enough of the same snark and energy that it works. In a similar manner, we've seen the gonzo bank robbery scene, but the dark humor and nihilistic tendencies of the robbers and their sacrifice of one of their comrades to provide an escape route is definitely entertaining as well.
A lot of what helps carry Forsaken is the visual style, provided by Donaldson and Zagami. Their art has an angular look that conveys the tone of this dark, machine and industrial-oriented future, reminiscent of the MTV animated series Aeon Flux. They're especially good at action sequences, as the latter half of the book attests. The gunfight between the newly assembled Relmers and a criminal's gang is a thing of beauty, played out like a series of slow motion poses that gives each character a chance to shine and reminds me more than anything else of the zen-meets-John Woo style of The Matrix.
We're really just skimming the surface of this book so far, and the actual plot and even central premise of the book is not quite nailed down yet. However, while the actual elements of the book are still coming together, the actual storytelling is fast and engaging, with some terrific action, some really neat ideas and a likable, subtle sense of dark humor.
