My favorite police procedural movies are when the undercover police officer is so deep in, they barely know who they are any longer. One of the prime examples, is a show I’m currently watching that comes on the BBC, called No Offence. One of the main storylines follows a detective who’s undercover in a Islamic hate group. She breaks off all contact with her superiors and becomes embroiled in the group to almost not knowing what her true purpose is.

The storyline and the way it plays out reminds me of my two favorite movies from the 1990s , Deep Cover and In Too Deep. It’s just pure coincidence that both movies features characters who gets lost in their undercover persona, to the point it is hard for them to disrupt their learned behavior. This obsessive behavior also extends to when characters walk the grey line in order to solve their cases. How far will you go if saving lives will cost you, your moral scruples? In the second issue of Denver Moon, our titular character looks within the tunnels of Mars for any breadcrumbs which may lead to our scythe wielding killer.

The key to cracking the case lies buried in the deepest tunnels of Mars. Denver Moon will stop at nothing to unearth the truth, even if it means digging up the demons of her past. As Denver walks the streets following a lead, she quickly lets the reader know that she’s like most private investigators where a majority of her cases involve infidelity. It’s a nice tip of the hat to a trope of the genre. But everything else is anything but. It involves religious cults and miners and leads to a very powerful climax.

Overall, this issue serves as the turning point for the series and it more than serves the story. The story by Warren Hammond and Joshua Viola, is action packed and intelligent. The art by Aaron Lovett, Brandon Bendert, and Matt Von Scoyk is vivid and elegant. Altogether, it’s another excellent installment in the sci-fi crime noir series which looks to keep readers glued to their seats to the very end.

Story: Warren Hammond and Joshua Viola
Art: Aaron Lovett, Brandon Bendert, and Matt Von Scoyk
Story: 9.5 Art: 9.3 Overall: 9.4 Recommendation: Buy