PROJECT RIESE #2, from Mad Cave Studios on 9/13/23, sends Sam and his fortune hunters deep into the Owl Mountains where they find abandoned Nazi digs and new horrors chasing them.
The Details
- Written by: Zac Thompson
- Art by: Jeff McComsey
- Colors by: Paul Little
- Letters by: Justin Birch
- Cover art by: Jeff McComsey
- Comic Rating: Teen+
- Cover price: $3.99
- Release date: September 13, 2023
Is PROJECT RIESE #2 Good?
Issue #1 was the teaser. PROJECT RIESE #2 is where Zac Thompson gets to the meat of the story as Sam and his friends find terrible wonders in the tunnels below. Does the lead-up pay off once we see what Sam and his cronies are up against? Well, that depends on what you’re looking for.
When last we left Sam and his diverse band of fortune hunters, they used subterfuge and quick thinking to trick their way into the tunnels below the Owl Mountains. Tunnels still gatekept by a lingering faction of post-WWII Nazis. Now, with perplexing archaeological discoveries ahead and angry Nazis behind, Sam stumbles upon one abandoned dig after another confirming an ancient civilization far older than historical records suggest. And then the Baron catches up with them…
When we say “it depends,” we mean it. Thompson does a fine job of creating a series of curious discoveries that speak to an ancient civilization that may or may not be human, but once the Baron (thought dead) catches up to the group in a body that looks like a rejected Return to Castle Wolfenstein sub-boss design, the tone changes from uneasy curiosity to cheap camp. Do you want an Indiana Jones-styled horror or a cheesy SyFy channel movie? You get a bit of both, so it remains to be seen if Thomspon can eventually get the tones to mesh.
What’s great about PROJECT RIESE #2? Thompson’s imaginative sequence of underground discoveries is ripe for exploration and getting the imagination gears turning. Sam’s drive to eventually find the treasure train (if that’s his true intent) creates attention-holding drama among the less zealous members of the group, and overall, this issue does what it needs to do – create curiosity for what comes next.
What’s not so great about PROJECT RIESE #2? The Baron’s arrival and appearance look downright silly. Yes, there’s a longstanding trope about Nazis and medical experimentation, but the Baron somehow received a new body, recovered his “adaptations,” and managed to catch up with Sam’s crew in an hour or two. That’s just too much to swallow.
How’s the art? Jeff McComsey’s style works until it doesn’t. McComsey’s simplified details help the reader to focus on what matters most in any given panel (facial expressions, an object of attention, etc.), but there are a few panels where McComsey’s detail makes it difficult to understand the object of focus. For example, in one panel, Taiyo’s attention is caught by a shape off to his right, but it’s impossible to tell what he’s looking at other than an amorphous blob.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at the covers, or Click Here to jump right to the story description with some spoilers.
What’s PROJECT RIESE #2 About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
Check out our PROJECT RIESE #1 review to find out how Sam and crew snuck into the underground tunnels.
We begin with Sam and the crew working their way deeper into the mountains with the help of Fritz’s map reading. With each milestone, they find stone cities built by the Naazis as a bunker, archaeological digs that indicate the Nazis found evidence of an older civilization and advanced technology that doesn’t match anything the Nazis were known to develop.
As the group presses on, they also found skeletal remains and evidence that some Nazis died a violent death, although there’s no record of the Allies ever finding the underground bases. The bodies and generally creepy vibe set Bradley on edge, and he soon begins urging everyone to turn back. Sam dismisses Bradley’s feelings as cold feet and presses on.
We conclude the issue with train tracks, firefights, and a cyborg-Baron.
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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PROJECT RIESE #2 amplifies the creepy horror as Sam and his crew find curious artifacts deeper underground, but the creepy tone takes an odd turn when the Nazi Baron arrives with a new cybernetic body. It’s hard to say where Zac Thompson is headed with the series, but the odd mix of tones is a head-scratcher.
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