Tessa is forced to make some difficult decisions about love while trying to save the London Institute.
Creative Staff
Story: Cassandra Clare
Art/Adaptation: HyeKyung Baek
What They Say
Tessa Gray has found friends among the Shadowhunters, supernatural protectors of mankind who possess angelic blood. But Tessa’s new life is threatened when some members of the Clave challenge Charlotte’s leadership and pressure her to resign as head of the London Institute. If Charlotte is forced out, Tessa will be forced to leave as well due to her warlock blood, making her easy prey for the still-at-large Magister. As Tessa and her handsome Shadowhunter escorts, Will and Jem, journey far and wide to unravel the Magister’s secrets, they quickly learn that they have no secrets from the vengeful Magister…and nowhere is safe…
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The Infernal Devices volume 2, Clockwork Prince picks up directly from where volume 1 left off. Tessa was starting to get close to Jem, Charlotte was in danger of loosing control of the London Institute, and Will was off doing sketchy stuff in order to cure himself of his affliction of being a human being who cares about others.
Once again, this adaptation is a rushed affair. There’s simply too much trying to be adapted to the page. Scenes change quickly and often, often lasting only a page and a half before switching to another location or time. Many of the side characters are short shrifted in favor of cramming in all of the main plot. Relationships develop in the blink of an eye, and I was loosing track of who was with who in the secondary cast. Even with the pacing problems, the story isn’t bad, if you can put up with some of the leads. Sophie and Charlotte remain more interesting women than Tessa, and I keep finding myself wishing this were their story instead.
The plot of this volume is many pronged, but it all continues to build on the hunt for the Magister and Will’s hunt for his freedom from his curse. Throughout the first volume we never knew why Will was such a jerk, I didn’t expect that personality quirk to be linked to his dark past in such an odd way. As a child he opened a literal pandora’s box that his father carelessly kept in reach of his son. He freed a demon which threatens to kill everyone who loves Will, and starts with his older sister. Will, fearing it was all his fault, breaks ties with his family and attempts to being a complete jackass to everyone who meets him. The one exception is Jem, who’s going to die from his mysterious drug addiction anyway.
Will is not the brightest guy in the world. We watch him make every misstep and mistake he can in this volume. His distancing himself from Tessa results in Tessa and Jem becoming extremely close, while Will remains oblivious. Even magical spells and young lust don’t win out in Will’s favor. I’m very glad that Tessa doesn’t fall for Will’s final overture, and I can’t understand why she doesn’t mentally distance herself from him more. Now that he’s not a bad boy anymore, maybe the last of his appeal will drop off for her. I fear that Jem is still going to end up being screwed over in the end by this love triangle.
The ongoing romance stuff aside, the actual hunt for the Magister takes some interesting twists and turns. It turns out there are enemy agents inside the Clave, and one big betrayal which leads the group back to Tessa’s brother. Tessa has to go undercover to sneak in past her brother to ferret out the truth of the mater.
All of the spying and footwork lead up to a confrontation at a warehouse which results in an unintentionally hilarious battle. The artist has done a great job with the characters and costuming in this series, but the few battle scenes are clearly not her strong point. The result is a fight which is confusing, rushed, and laughable. The epic force the group confronts at the end of this volume is a hysterically stiff giant robot which bares a passing resemblance to Tezuka’s Pluto because of it’s horns. I’m sure it’s supposed to be a massive clockwork threat, but when the fighters look like their floating rather than standing on it and suddenly the battle is over I’m left shaking my head. Especially with what follows immediately after.
The end of Tessa’s brother takes the easy way out where he attempts to apologize as he lies dying. Look closely and you’ll notice Tessa leaves Will to die just to hear her brother’s dying words. Going in to the volume I’d forgotten he was even still alive, just to illustrate how much of a non-threat he is.
This volume ends with a tease rather than a ominous note, with the arrival of Will’s younger sister to be trained as he was. The hunt for the Magister continues.
In Summary
Suffering from many of the same pacing issues that the first volume did, Clockwork Prince continues on with it’s tale at breakneck speed. Tessa is tossed from one situation to another, with no moments of calm to reflect on the events happening. With Will finally confronting his literal demon and Tessa confronting her brother they’re both free of some shackles binding their behavior. Flaws are something characters need to be well rounded, but these two are drowning in them. Whatever misery awaits them in the final volume will certainly be of their own creation, but I worry about the toil it’s going to take on the better characters in the series.
Content Grade: B –
Art Grade: B –
Packaging Grade: B +
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: September 3rd, 2012
MSRP:
