CULT OF IKARUS #2, from Scout Comics on April 6th, 2022, Hunter and Gracie escape the Cult of Ikarus long enough to seek help from a magical relation. Before the night is over, Hunter’s past comes into focus.
The Details
- Written By: Jenna Lyn Wright
- Art By: Karl Slominski
- Colors By: Karl Slominski
- Letters By: Taylor Esposito
- Cover Art By: Karl Slominski
- Cover Price: $3.99
- Release Date: April 6, 2022
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Was It Good?
Now we’re cooking with holy water. CULT OF IKARUS #2 takes the standard “teenager discovering her slayer abilities in a world of vampires that sounds a heck of a lot like Buffy” and significantly improves on it with hip character introductions, gore, world-building, and lore-building. In other words, issue #1 was fine-but-familiar. Issue #2 gets the creative juices flowing.
Readers get a tricked-out car built for vampire slaying (complete with a Lost Boys reference), a nightclub safe zone attended by patrons of the non-human variety, a history lesson on family connections among vampires, and a not-so-shocking reveal about Hunter’s bloodline.
Admittedly, there’s more talking than action in this issue, but when the action comes, it hits hard and fast. Wright does an excellent job of giving readers all kinds of information about this world in an organic way while peppering little action moments to keep the issue visually interesting. There’s no shortage of vampiric displays of power, but those moments work with the story rather than as superfluous eye candy.
Slominski flexes a little more artistic muscle in this issue, too. There are multiple scenes where Slominski uses shadow and silhouette to give the scenes more depth and scale, creating an impression the comic is much bigger than it really is. Slominski also handled the colors in this issue, and they punctuate each scene with strikingly different moods, depending on the location. The character designs might be a little cartoonish for some tastes but it suits the material well.
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What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
If you’re unfamiliar with Hunter and how she got mixed up in this crazy scenario, first read our CULT OF IKARUS #1 review.
We pick up from the cliffhanger at the end of issue #1 with Gracie gunning a motorcycle away from the Cult. Gracie rides behind her, hanging on for dear life. They almost get away until one Rowan, one of the Cult’s lieutenants, knocks the motorcycle for a loo. Before the pursuing vampires can pounce, Remy arrives with his modified car sporting ultraviolet headlights to burn a path. Hunter and the rest get away, but Hunter mistakenly leaves her book behind for Rowan to find.
Later, an injured Rowan rushes to meet the Cult’s leader, Caleb, to tell him what happen and turn over the book. Meanwhile, Remy takes Gracie and Hunter to see his warlock brother, Adrian. They beg for refuge and a little magical help to figure out why Hunter is “different”. We conclude the issue with Caleb’s disappointment, Adrian’s concoctions, and Hunter’s inhuman reactions.
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Final Thoughts
CULT OF IKARUS #2 is a significant step up over the first issue in terms of story creativity and overall intrigue. While this issue is long on dialog and short on action, this is an excellent world- and character-building issue to establish the foundation for all the players and set up curiosity for what comes next.
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