Creative Staff:
Story: Paul Tobin
Art: Andrea Mutti
Letterer: Taylor Esposito
What They Say:
Life explodes around Tyler Severin as depictions of Bunny Mask begin eerily appearing in his life – even as the strange and deadly creature herself walks the earth once more. Meanwhile, as Tyler’s relationship with Bee accelerates, he begins hearing the voice of the Snitch whispering everyone’s darkest secrets, forcing Tyler to question if Leo Foster, Bee’s crazy father, was truly crazy after all…or simply the tormented holder of secrets no man should ever know
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Paul Tobin provided for a slow burn build overall in its opening issue but layered it in a way so that by the end you definitely want to know so much more right away – that you had the whole run to read at once. The second issue shifts gears in a lot of ways but raises interest in other avenues so that you’re still very attached to what’s going on. There’s a lot of strong dialogue throughout this that made it a delight to read. Tobin’s paired with one of my favorite artists in Andrea Mutti and with the shift to a more urban setting and traditional piece here, the results are fantastic with some beautiful-looking pages, great character designs, and just a lot of easy engagement with what’s presented. With its focus on Tyler and a cooler color tone, it really draws you into it.
With this installment, we get Tyler back at work and there’s a sense that things are off in his life across it. It’s the little things that unnerve, and rightly so. When he’s with a patient at the start, she compliments him on the bunny mask statute he has on his shelf. But he has absolutely no idea where it came from. Later, his apartment has a bunny painting that he can’t account for how it got there, but it merits only so much discussion and investigation. Then there’s the whole voice talking to him thing at times that he tries to dismiss as just background noise or something else but then it becomes far too real and he there’s a sense he’s in deeper than he realizes and is still trying to trivialize it to some degree. It’s all difficult and problematic but at the same time, you can halfway understand why he’s not as engaged at first.
And that’s because he’s really reconnected with Bee since coming across her. The two spend several weeks going by the timeline shown here where they’re going out or hanging out inside together and doing almost everything. They really come across as the perfect couple in so many ways that it’s utterly adorable and you keep rooting for them. But, like Tyler’s roommate, we’re shocked in that the pair haven’t consummated the relationship even though everything has lined up repeatedly in a perfect way for it to have happened. I do like that there’s a sense from Tyler that it is the age difference, being fourteen years, but at this point in life when they’ve met that’s far less of an issue as the connection has clicked. There’s something holding them back but at the same time, you really want them to connect fully.
In Summary:
Of course, things do take a twist toward the end when Bunny Mask appears in his place and tensions ramp up with an attack incoming – just as Bunny Mask crashes. It’s not exactly out of nowhere but it’s like we’ve been so distracted by the romance and potential there that the reality of what’s going on around them has been glossed over, which makes the impact of the final pages even better. It’s real life crashing in, hard, and it’s going to put Tyler through the wringer in a way that he’s never realized he could be. The book continues to intrigue and I absolutely adore the art style, especially the cooler tone of this one compared to the first.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: AfterShock Comics
Release Date: July 14th, 2021
MSRP: $4.99