Two new mysteries surface.
Creative Staff:
Story: Dean Motter
Art: Dean Motter
What They Say:
The second issue of legendary comics creator Dean Motter’s Mister X: Razed is here! In the retrofuturistic metropolis of Radiant City, the city’s mysterious designer, Mister X, becomes entangled in a crime that defies reason: a gigantic skyscraper has been kidnapped and is held for ransom—but why?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Revisiting Mister X in the first installment of this miniseries after being away for so long was surreal, though I was never heavily into the book. With age and different interests, the series is one that certainly speaks to me in a way that it didn’t in my youth and there’s a lot to like with what’s going on here, though the structure of it all can be a little bothersome. While the first issue gave us a couple of stories that were more or less complete, this one gives us two stories once again but they’re each first parts with mild crossovers and no conclusions here until the next issue, unless it goes longer. Which is fine, but I’d rather focus on one story at a team rather than tease me some and then move on to something else. But that’s really just nitpicking.
The first story here takes us to the heart of the mayoral election that’s coming up and how one of the candidates is attempting to stake his bid on the idea of bringing back the original architects from the 9th Academy and getting them to heal it. It’s certainly a bold proposition, but one with a lot of problems. He’s managed to converse with Mister X and it’s only because of his own interest in healing the city, and helping Rosey, that he’s even willing to entertain the idea. It’s wrapped up in a new event going on with one of the original architects buildings that was being restored going missing, an amusing trick that we don’t get the details of, but it provides a look at part of the history of the city and the kinds of ups, downs and corruptions that populates it. There’s a lot of little nuggets amid the basic mystery that’s presented and getting to it through the cast that’s revealed is intriguing, even with a little side story along the way from Mercedes that delves into her relationship with Mister X. Or Santos, as she calls him.
The second story kicks off a Rosetta Stone storyline as she’s close to getting off the entertainment pages and back to being a real reporter, though struggling with her chief that’s trying to get her to understand people aren’t interested in real news. She has to basically pay her dues again and that has her being sent off to another city to investigate a zombie scare of all things. It turns out that there’s been a series of robberies performed by ambling and shambling zombies, and we see part of it from a jewelry store owner who’s hiring some detectives to help figure out what’s going on and getting his goods back as we see Rosetta going through her own investigation. There’s some nods to what’s going on back at Radiant City, but this story starts by offering Rosetta a chance to stand apart from Mister X and follow her own leads, which is definitely interesting as it gets underway here.
In Summary:
Mister X: Razed is certainly the kind of book that you really need to curl up with and read in detail in order to immerse yourself into its world. We got some good foundations and re-introductions to it in the first installment while also showing the changed nature of some relationships. Here, we get two stories underway that are connected lightly, but allow different characters to take the focus on them. Both are intriguing and made me wish that they ran separately and to conclusion already so I could savor the tale as a whole. I wasn’t sure just how much I’d get into this book after being a light fan for so long and being out of it, but there’s a beautiful style to it in the artwork that really draws me in on top of the story itself and how it’s told through the dialogue, the narration boxes and the background text littered throughout that makes it richer and more engaging. It’s not a book for everyone to be sure, but those that see it and find something calling to them about it should not hesitate to dive right in.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: March 25th, 2014
MSRP: $3.99
