The book tour becomes even harder.
Creative Staff:
Story: Cullen Bunn
Art: Leila Leiz
Colors: Giada Marchisio
Letterer: Jim Campbell
What They Say:
Olivia Kade’s cross-country book tour kicks off and is immediately met with resistance. The public lashes out against her treatise on the collapse of society, and it is Connor Wilson’s job to keep her safe. As events surrounding the tour grow more violent, more surreal, and more horrific, Connor can’t help but wonder — is Olivia’s book bringing about strange changes in the world?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
With a really strong opening issue, the second installment of this series from Cullen Bunn continues to build the tension and drama in all the right ways. The character work here is built nicely all while teasing more and more of what’s in the book and showing the impact on the world. As we said before, I’m very familiar with his writing style and enjoy it, but this was only my second experience with artwork from Leila Leiz and that was four years ago. I really like what they present here as we get some great character designs, a gorgeously designed cover, and just a real sense of strength and passion to the work as a whole.
With Olivia’s book tour getting underway, things are pretty tense right from the start with it. There’s an active element that is really against what’s in her book and how things are described and it really lights a fire under a segment of society. The protests outside of her readings are intense but we also see how bad it gets inside, such as the first one where a couple is driven to have intense sex in the bookshelves where they’re getting pretty feral. All of this raises a lot of concerns for Connor as he does his best to protect her, succeeding for the moment. But the reality of what’s happening is becoming clearer and we’re seeing exactly how those that are working to protect Olivia are likely to suffer some serious stress from it as well.
As the tour continues, we see some good stuff on the bus itself that shows how this group is functioning, but it’s when they get done at another event and head to the hotel that things change. Connor’s handling it well in making sure Olivia and the rest are protected, but she does continue to do reckless things that makes it harder for him. And she toys with him a bit with some sexual innuendo. But all it takes is the two at the bar for a while, a few drinks, and they’re both laid out in her bed naked going to town and really finding a lot of pleasure in each other. It does feel natural in how it progresses to there, especially from their first meeting, and I love that the book allows it to go there and doesn’t hold back, especially since it will change everything going forward.
In Summary:
I’m still not sure what Olivia’s bigger game and goal are here but she’s intent on going all-in on this tour and pulling at the fabric of society, at least for those that are triggered by her and what’s in the book. It’s a really intense reaction that’s created here and I can imagine a lot of really interesting aspects to it that can cause it. But the book spends a lot of its time with the core cast itself of Olivia and Connor and that in itself is a really good story even without this particular backdrop. It moves smoothly and I absolutely love the artwork, especially Leiz’s design for Olivia and how she’s presented in pretty much every panel.
Grade: A-
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Vault Comics
Release Date: September 8th, 2021
MSRP: $3.99
