Author: Joe Keatinge
Artist: Leila del Duca
Type: Fiction, comic
Collects issues: 7-12
Published: 2014
I read it: June 2017
Something is off about that cover. Seems like the framing isn’t quite right. And unfortunately that tends to be the case for this book overall.
In Volume Two, Kate Kristopher continues to be chased, captured, stabbed, and thrown around. She can usually get herself out of situations by using inexplicable ninja moves or because some huge creature busts in with weaponry and just starts shooting at everything. Along the way, she meets her sister (who she never knew about) and her mother (maybe, although the mom is in disguise). She gets roped into a lame underground cabal that controls the real world and is in pursuit of controlling a dreamworld. Oh, and Alarm Cat is on his way to being transformed into… something else.
A lot of my initial trepidation from Volume One is back, with little potential for resolution. The wild characters and cliffhangers once again bring to mind Saga, but the lack of plot cohesion or even central character motivation leaves it feeling like Saga-lite. One notable difference is the experiment with meta commentary in the references to old comics, from a series of Sunday funnies that uses homages to Family Circus and Foxtrot to outline the initial creation of Alarm Cat. Another two-page spread is a dream sequence called “Little Kate in Slumberland” that features intriguingly creepy art from old children’s fairy tales.
But Kate herself remains exhausting. By the time she screams “Fuck everybody! You all want me? You got me! But on my terms!” I’m rolling my eyes. Then she goes on to get handily defeated once again, and the cycle continues. And where is her camera in all this? I don’t think I’ll be sticking around to see how this series unfolds.
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