The further up you go, the further down the return.
Creative Staff:
Story: Lonnie Nadler, Zac Thompson
Art: Sami Kivela
Colors: Jason Wordie
Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
What They Say:
Determined and stubborn, Silvano’s plan for revenge is put into action. He attempts to pull off a heist in the tallest building in Buttar, Texas, but things don’t go so smooth. He’s stumbled into something much larger than himself and The Fraternal Brotherhood is waiting. Meanwhile, legendary gunslinger Solomon Eaton tries to pull off a heist of his own. But Sol’s about to learn that things don’t work quite the same when you’re south of the border.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Getting back into the swing of things with Undone by Blood was certainly interesting in the first installment. Nadler and Thompson are both writers that I enjoyed a good bit with their AfterShock output but this particular series has left me cool with half of it as the whole 1800’s train/cowboy stuff just does not click for me at all. It’s pretty to look at thanks to Sami Kivela but that’s the extent of my interest in it. I’m definitely enjoying the story focusing on Silvano more and Kivela’s presentation of this period in time and these characters since it’s long past the usual “standard” stuff that we’d always get, making it a lot more interesting and nuanced.
With this installment, Silvano and Bud have made their way into the building that they’re going to rob, though it’s going to take a bit of time to go up all the flights of stairs as Bud has a particular aversion to the death boxes that are elevators at this point in time. It does get him to relate an amusing story that he’s heard from New York City about them and it makes for a really neatly structured couple of pages in how Kivela lays it out with the dialogue and movement. The two are also pretty solid when they do reach the top floor, find the light on in Wright’s office, but discover that it’s empty and get working on cracking the safe. Bud again comically frustrates as he takes a long time trying to get it open because his knowledge on how to do so is based on movies he saw. The two do finally get it open but it’s not riches and wealth, just corporate papers for the Equites company.
Silvano has the right idea to get the hell out of there at this point but Bud wants his score and discovering that there’s a ladder to a higher floor there gets him excited. This is where things turn into that disastrous mess in discovering there’s basically a secret cult/brotherhood thing going on here and an initiation underway makes it worse. It’s kind of all over the place in a way while being fairly traditional in revealing itself, but it comes as a dust storm is blowing into town and mistakes are made with people getting killed here quickly. Even worse, as we knew from the start, the pair are making a big mistake in being in uniform doing this as well, so there’s an added layer to the panic that comes from someone like Silvano as it all falls apart further and further.
In Summary:
There’s a lot going on in this book and that’s without talking about the train heist that’s going wrong as well. The main story that I’m interested in and clicks for me with Bud and Silvano has all the right hallmarks of the twist that’ll change the nature of things and could lead to some really serious violence as it progresses. It’s a fun twist even if it’s one we’ve seen before a number of times in other works but it works here well for this time and place. Nadler and Thompson’s script works well and some of the little nuance stories are a delight. But it’s Sami Kivela that’s killing it here in capturing these distinctive times and people with their outfits and locations in a big way. Worth it just for the art alone but we do get a solid story here as well.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: AfterShock Comics
Release Date: April 14th, 2021
MSRP: $4.99
