In Plague, the bubonic plague that ravages Europe in the 1370s is actually a biological weapon created by the Catholic Church to kill off the magical creatures of the world: fairies, trolls, sprites, etc.  One man, Warbishop Jean de Moray, has made it his personal mission to spread the plague, but an unlikely trio rises up to oppose him: Twylyth Tegg, the brash new King of the Fey, Danann Atreyu, a refugee fairy who still harbors hope for the goodness in humankind, and Robb Aubert, a country friar who can’t believe his church is behind this horrible disease.

The above description is actually from the solicitation of the first issue, but I included it here to give you a general sense of the comic’s direction. I quite enjoyed the first issue, and due to a sorting snafu on my end, I only read it a few days ago so it’s still pretty fresh in my mind – which is good  because this issue picks up right where the first one left off.

Zach Brunner remains consistent throughout the series; his art certainly has a unique flavour to it that blends well with the alternate history take on the origins of the Black Plague. With Brunner handling full duties here, he shines brightest during the scene that is shown on the cover above. Just like the first issue, the art is once again the highlight of the comic, but unlike the previous issue the quality gap feels a little more pronounced.

The promise shown in the first issue hasn’t materialized quite yet, held back by dialogue that doesn’t have a natural feel about it, with the same thing often being said in a slightly different way which has a knock on effect to the pacing of the issue which suffers a little as a result. Of course, you may feel differently, and if you do then I hope you feel I’m being overly harsh; Plague has a really awesome concept behind it, but as yet the comic isn’t quite as good as I wanted it to be.

That being said, when reading Plague #2 you’ll notice narration text boxes throughout the pages which lend a nice throwback feel to the comic’s story telling, and also reminded me of how much I enjoy a well placed narration box which is something that works well in this issue.

I wanted to enjoy this comic more than I did, so while it didn’t quite leave me desperate for more, I’m still not done with the series yet; the aforementioned promise still feels as though it’s lurking just behind the next tree.

Story: Dennis MaGee Fallon, Jason Palmatier
Art: Zach Brunner Letters: Dave Sharpe
Story: 6.0 Art: 7.75 Overall: 7.0 Recommendation: Read

Graphic Policy was provided with a FREE copy for review