SHOW’S END: THE SECOND COMING #2, from Mad Cave Studios on August 24th, 2022, enters the world of creepy cults when Loralye and her friends find Sanctuary Glade isn’t what was promised.
The Details
- Written by: Anthony Cleveland
- Art by: Jef Sadzinski
- Colors by: Fabi Marques
- Letters by: Justin Birch
- Cover art by: Jef Sadzinski
- Cover price: $3.99 (subscription)
- Release date: August 24, 2022
Is It Good?
SHOW’S END: THE SECOND COMING #2 is the whimsical, creepy carnival story you didn’t know you were missing. Filled with crazy religious cults, secret cages, and charismatic leaders who play on your hidden desires, this comic hits just the right spot for fans of HBO’s Carnivale and Todd Browning’s Freaks.
The highlight of this issue is the seductive atmosphere with an undercurrent of malice Cleveland injects into the script. That’s a fancy way of saying you can empathize with characters like Pavel the Pig Boy drawn into the Sanctuary Glade’s religious group while also feeling like something is definitely off about Sanctuary Glade and its religious group. The entire issue ratchets up the tension as two forces pull against each other – the need to belong and the urge to run away.
Once you understand how much the religious group is out of whack, curiosity levels skyrocket. Where did the group’s leader, Miss Coralynn, come from? What’s her agenda? Are Loralye and her friends truly in danger? These are all excellent, forward-thinking questions, and it’s a solid hook that makes you want to read the next issue.
Sadzinski’s art is quite good and a solid match for this type of material. Despite the freakish nature of the characters, their designs are grounded enough to be believable. When Miss Coralynn plays on the deformities of her congregants as a vulnerability, you could imagine yourself with scars from war or birth abnormalities the way Sadzinski fleshed them out here.
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What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
Check out our SHOW’S END: THE SECOND COMING #1 review to find out what happened last time.
We begin with Loralye and her friends encountering an assortment of armed folks on the outskirts of Sanctuary Glade. Some mean to do Loralye harm. Others are respectable. The groups meaning to do harm are warned off, and Loralye and her friends are invited to attend the evening service led by the church leader, Miss Coralynn. Unfortunately, only freaks are allowed inside the church as the religious order sees freaks as “blessed.”
Inside, Pavel is singled out as a newcomer, but he’s invited to stay with the church permanently. Loralye and Vaddy suspect something is wrong, but Pavel, desperate for a sense of belonging, agrees to stay. We learn from the other congregants and residents who aren’t freaks that the church leadership strictly enforces segregation between freaks and non-freaks, even among family members.
We conclude the issue with Pavel learning a family secret, Loralye learning a family secret, and a pang of relentless hunger for meat.
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Final Thoughts
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SHOW’S END: THE SECOND COMING #2 is an effectively creepy story that mixes carnival sideshow freaks and a crazy cult with a secret agenda for a banger of a mystery. The tense atmosphere is so thick you could cut it with a bloody meat cleaver, and the character designs add whimsy to a grounded setup.
Related Information
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