Creative Staff:
Story: Greg Rucka
Art: Toni Fejzula
What They Say:
When Veil’s only ally is ripped away from her, she’s left at the mercy of a mysterious and powerful enemy. Could this stranger know who Veil is? Why is he pursuing her? The truth is more terrifying than you can imagine.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Veil has certainly been an unusual title in some ways in its first two issues with what it’s doing, but more so in the visual design of it than the storyline itself. That’s been familiar, with its own quirks of course, but Toni Fejzula’s artwork has made it positively creepy and has allowed it to come to life with its own heartbeat. With the second installment giving us a bit more on Veil herself, it also spent a lot of time with Cormac and Scarborough, showing us the other side of the story that’s going on and making it a little clearer. While their goals and that of those that have invested in them are unclear, they basically want Veil herself and have put a lot of resources and money towards it and also a bit of risk in other areas since they’re all accomplices to murder at this rate with what’s gone on. Suffice to say, the investment is now high.
With this installment, it again does a decent mix of material but blocks it out well enough that each gets enough time to stand on its own. With Cormac having survived what he did previously, he’s now plotting for his next step, which will culminate in drawing Veil to him and working from there. That involves a lot of work in the church that he’s set up in, which is being watched by Scarborough’s men as they want to know what the deal is while also knowing that the girl will obviously end up there because of what he’s done. It’s positively creepy seeing him work about the church and setting the traps that he needs there all to draw her in. A lot of it just comes from the way Cormac presents himself, especially shirtless for a lot of this, as he paints what he needs on the floors, draws it all out well and does it all to a tune or two along the way. There’s a certain confidence to him that just adds to the allure and the wariness at the same time.
With Veil herself, her story is a bit less clear in some ways because of how it’s unfolding. A good part of it focuses on the blood soaked rat coming through the street to find her, taking down a different rat along the way, before making its way to Veil herself and getting all up close and personal, which is how she understands where to go. She’s not been an exactly “together” person from the first panel where we met her, but she takes on a bit more of a zombiefied approach here as she makes her way to the church, which itself sets into motion a few things since Cormac has his plan underway the moment she arrives. It’s all building towards something and we get the first taste of Cormac’s creation here, but the depth and understanding of it remains to be scene, which undercuts some of what we get here. It’s a great tease, but it doesn’t have any meat on its bones yet.
In Summary:
Veil has certainly been captivating with its art style in the first two issues and that definitely carries through with this installment. In some ways, it’s even more captivating because of what we see with Cormac and the kind of approach he brings to the page. The story is getting a bit larger and we’re touching on a few more characters here, but it’s coming down to the immediate with Cormac and Veil and that has a lot of potential. With this five issue miniseries being the first of a potentially larger run of books out there and stories, it’s easy to view this as simply the origin story told over a bit of time and to engage in it that way without expecting any huge revelations or anything. There’s definitely a lot to like and it’s coming together well, with is really helped in a big way by Fejzula’s artwork. That continues to be worth the price of admission alone to pore over.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: May 7th, 2014
MSRP: $3.50
