The Unknown #2 – Review

By Mark Waid (writer), Minck Oosterveer (pencils, ink), Fellipe Martins (colors)

The Story: Catherine and Doyle continue their investigation into the mystery of the missing quantum box. However, the scientific theory behind the disappearance is quickly replaced with the supernatural as unexpected surprises confront them when they try to recover the missing object.

What’s Good: The relationship between Catherine and Doyle clicks like a classic cop partnership in this issue. With each character, Waid has convinces us of each person’s very human personality. For example, with Catherine, Waid does a great job making her a brainiac who is always a hundred steps ahead of everyone else. Her portrayal doesn’t seem forced and her eccentricities and illness keep her from being cliche’.  This is likewise for whoever else you come across in the book.

As for the art, Oosterveer is on point in capturing the natural reactions. I especially like Doyle’s humorous reactions to the surprise nemesis (who I might add, was well-designedt. Furthermore, some of his illustrations of Catherine’s visions, though repetitive, are very effective and striking upon first glance.

With Waid’s well-developed characters, and Oosterveer’s art accompanying them, things are working well for this series. The last panel of the comic will leave you excited about this title, as you’ll never see it coming nor know what to expect from the next issue. All I know is that this new element adds to the overall fun and pleasure of this series.

What’s Not So Good: The whole scene with the Faderbauer twins reads rushed as they are kind of like a blank foil used to showcase Catherine’s explanation of things. Additionally, the history of weighing a soul was interesting, but then it reads as a little too much, and too fast– something like that can be/ should be explored patiently, and not rushed. The pacing of this read has a little too much temp and I’d rather see things slowed down and expanded.

Conclusion: A nice mixture of exposition and action fuels Waid’s latest installment of The Unknown. An interesting premise for a comic that is unfortunately force fed to the reader with its brand of flawed pacing. However, different plot lines, directions, and misdirections seem to be coming together in a surprising way with the big reveal at the end of this issue.

Grade: B

-Rob G.