BOUNTIFUL GARDEN #2 – Review

In BOUNTIFUL GARDEN #2, available from Mad Cave Studios on October 6th, 2021, the landing party searches for supplies and signs of life on the planet below. Meanwhile, the engineers struggle to get the ship’s engines started.

The Details

• Written By: Ivy Noelle Weir
• Art By: Kelly Williams
• Colors By: Giorgio Spalletta
• Letters By: Justin Birch
• Cover Art By: Kelly Williams
• Cover Price: $3.99
• Release Date: October 6, 2021

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Was It Good?

There’s something about this title that nags at you; something a little off. The more you read it, the more it becomes clear. The aspect that throws off this comic is the conflict between the nature and setting of the story, the characters in the story, and the art. The pieces are put together in a coherent and perfectly readable way, but the conflict is somehow offputting.

First, the nature and setting of the story are a variation on Alien (1979). We said as much in the review for issue #1 and not much has changed here except that the alien intrusion now has an element of mind control/hypnosis/delusion. You could say that the story mixes Alien (1979) with elements of Event Horizon (1997). If you’re familiar with either of those films, you know the concepts are weighty, serious, mature stuff. Except…

All the characters in this story are teens or tweens. As this series progresses, the paper-thin explanation (“they’ll be older when they get there”) for sending kids on a lengthy colonization mission gets harder to swallow. Age doesn’t develop maturity, experience does. It’s clear the lack of experience and maturity among the crew cause them to act out in… well… childish ways. The more the story plays out, the more using an all-child cast looks like a gimmick or contrivance that doesn’t work. All of which is not helped by…

The art. To be clear, there’s nothing wrong with the art in and of itself. However, the character designs come across as illustrations in a children’s book, and it doesn’t fit the tone of the genre the creators are going for.

It sounds like overly harsh criticism, but it’s really the best attempt at explaining what makes this title feel off. A comic works best when the art, the characters, and the story all complement each other to make the whole greater than the sum of its parts. Here, the parts are all fighting against each other to tell you what kind of comic this wants to be. Is it a mature space horror? Is it an illustrated children’s book out just in time for Halloween? Is it some sort of YA horror fantasy? I don’t know, and that’s why it’s off.

I want to like this title. There are several cool bits and pieces to it, but until it figures out what kind of comic it wants to be, this title will continue to feel “off”.

What’s It About?

[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]

To find out how the kids got put in timeout, first read our BOUNTIFUL GARDEN #1 review.

The story follows two separate, parallel threads playing out. First, Anya and Kamari are at odds over what’s preventing the engines from starting and what caused them to stop in the first place. In between their brainstorming/bickering, Jane periodically interrupts for an update. Throughout this issue, Jane appears to serve no purpose other than to act as a nervous annoyance for the rest of the team.

On the planet below, Marnie and the rest of the landing party make their way along the inhospitable terrain looking for whatever they can use for supplies. As they see more signs of ancient, abandoned civilization but nothing they can use, tensions flare. During a restless night, Marnie is pulled into a dream by a voice that appears to be coming from the plant life. The plants entice Marnie to become its messenger.

Exhausting all other possibilities about the engine failure, Kamari becomes convinced he needs to physically check the engines from outside. Anya protests and Jane is unwilling or unable to stop him. We conclude the issue with the landing party finding some ancient writing and hearing a strange noise in the dark, Kamari assuring the crew he’ll be perfectly fine during the spacewalk, and the revelation that Kamari is not going to be fine.

Final Thoughts

BOUNTIFUL GARDEN #2 has some creepy plot developments and equally creepy art, but the creative choices between the tone of the story, the characters, and the art style don’t mesh well. The end result is a comic that doesn’t seem to know what it wants to be. There’s promise in this title, but it needs to sort itself out.

Score: 7/10