HERE COMES CALICO #2, from Sigma Comics on Kickstarter, follows a day in the life of Calico as he rescues amputates limbs, bashes in brains, and rescues cute kittens.
The Details
- Written by: H.H. German
- Art by: Javier Orabich
- Colors by: Daniel Grimaldi
- Letters by: Javier Orabich
- Cover art by: Garnabiel
- Comic Rating: Mature
- Cover price: $2.99
- Release date: April 2021
Is It Good?
HERE COMES CALICO #2 continues the eye-bulging adventures of the world’s most brutal animal rights activist as he takes out animal abusers at every level of the societal food chain while his network tracks down the elusive Dr. Claw. Hold on to your catnip, Kittens. This comic is definitely NOT NSFW.
When last we left Calico, he put a painful end to a family of wealthy big game hunters illegally poaching lions in Africa. During his mission, he received intel on a mysterious Dr. Claw, who runs an operation responsible for heinous acts of cruelty towards animals. Now, Calico busies himself with an animal-abusing landlord, a baby seal murderer in NYC for vacation, and the CEO of a meat-processing company whose slaughtering practices are too cruel to ignore.
Calico is a very busy boy, and that’s both the plus and minus of this issue.
On the positive side, Calico is a fascinating character in the same arena as the Punisher. His motivation and mission are inhumanly clear – kill, torture, and disfigure anyone who abuses helpless animals. You can respect his unflappable focus, even if you don’t agree with his methods. Every animal, no matter how big or small, receives justice at the hands of Calico, and this issue gives readers a wide array of demonstrations of that justice in gory detail.
On the negative side, the plot is scattered. Even within the context of a multi-issue arc, every comic should have a clear beginning, middle, and end. The seal killer’s fate sorta fits that bill, but there are multiple plot threads either introduced or continued from issue #1 that just move along without any clear sense of development. HERE COMES CALICO #2 isn’t confusing because you can tell what’s going on, but it feels like a bunch of random scenes put together.
In fairness, this issue is part of an 8-issue arc, so it may make more sense when collected in a trade, but as an individual issue you’d pick up from an LCS shelf, readers may struggle to get the gist of what’s happening.
The art from Grimaldi and Orabich is fantastic. As we noted in the previous review, the art quality matches what you might expect out of Marvel and DC Comics (better when you consider some of the poor offerings from the Big 2 lately). Orabich’s line work is clean, the figure work is excellent, and the gorier moments are shockingly detailed.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at the covers, or Click Here to jump right to the story description with some spoilers.
What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
Check out our HERE COMES CALICO #1 review to find out how Calico deals with a family of poachers.
We begin with Calico receiving intel on his next missions while Dogmomma tracks down the elusive Dr. Claw. This time, Calico receives data on a baby seal killer who enjoys using a baseball bat, and a meat-packing heiress whose slaughtering methods are beyond vicious. Later, Calico receives a tip from a local informant about a landlord who likes to kick dogs.
Later, Milo Barnes takes a break from bashing baby seal brains to visit NYC for a birthday celebration in his honor. Milo arrives fashionably late… or at least part of him does.
Meanwhile, the dog-kicking landlord learns using his leg to hurt defenseless animals means he doesn’t deserve to have his leg. Calico is happy to teach that lesson.
We conclude the issue with shocking video evidence, date night for a dollar, and smitten for kittens.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at preview images of the internal pages, or Click Here to jump right to the score.
Final Thoughts
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HERE COMES CALICO #2 keeps the main character very busy, with a seal hunter receiving an unwanted birthday present, a dog-abusing landlord about to have his kicking privileges revoked, and a meat-processing heiress landing on the wrong vigilante’s radar. The artwork is top-level in quality, and the kills don’t hold anything back, but the plot lacks a clear beginning, middle, and end, and too many plot threads muddy the reading experience.
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