Jamie Me introduced a world that wasn’t a millions miles away from our own with the first issue of Queen and this second instalment became a reality after another successful Kickstarter campaign.
The calling of an urgent Cabinet meeting saw our central character Emily Green take a step closer to the top job as PM but all due to the hidden hands of the ‘Hidus’ hacktivist group who seem to have dirt on everyone. Their stealth calls with Emily are beginning to show how far they’re willing to go and the environment Jamie is beginning to emphasize is getting darker & darker.
The corruption, the control and the inevitable spin are a bit too familiar when compared with what we see in the UK press today but if anything, that’s all the more reason for this to be seen as something much more significant. We get to see a lot more of Emily’s home life in this issue too as she tries to juggle her work for the Government, looking after her son and dealing with the difficulties in her relationship with her husband. It’s a fine balancing act for all these elements but the return is a much more engaging central character.
Jamie has teamed-up with artist Bernard Gita & colourist Sean Callahan again and they both give the same level of detail in the characters that they did in that opener. The facial expressions capture every emotion with a strong sense of poignancy and as the faceless hacktivist’s show the power they hold over every person in power, the team manage to sustain that sinister edge they exude. Jamie chips in even further with some fine lettering that’s well-balanced across the pages given the sheer volume of dialogue and the whole team are running like a well-oiled machine.
Queen is as far away from the superhero stories that are crammed onto the comic book shop shelves but the magic of stepping out from the mainstream’s shadow is that books can contribute to a bigger set of ideals that feel like they really mean something. The characters are realistic without becoming caricatures and they are just as much in the dark about the plot as us the reader which helps build the tension that his thriller needs. It’s more brilliant work from the whole creative team and at the midway point of this release I just want the next issues as soon as possible.
You can check out what else Jamie is working on over on his Facebook & Twitter pages.
9/10
G-Man
COMICS ANONYMOUS 