The Victories #2
Publisher: Dark Horse
Writer: Michael Avon Oeming
Artist: Michael Avon Oeming
Colors: Nick Filardi
In the first issue we saw the “here and now,” but in this second installment we begin with a scene from years past as two youths are training at a dojo called “The Mark’s School of Self-Defense.” These two young men show an exceptional aptitude for the martial arts, and their instructor tells them that they both have a spark he hasn’t seen in years. Flash back to the present, and we see a plot to steal from a crooked lawyer. The thugs have a great plan that involves a mind reader getting the information from the brain of the lawyer. They enter the house, and it seems as though everything will work out just as planned. It does, until Faustus shows up and takes them down anyway. He then grabs the mind reader for some late night interrogation. Afterwards, the group once known as The Victories plots to use the newly extracted information to shake down some drug dealers. A scene in prison follows where the mind reader, “Link,” is getting the feeling that he’s looking like fresh meat to the inmates. He tells the Jackal that he has some personal information about Faustus and he wants protection in trade for this info. The Jackal then proceeds to bust himself and Link out of prison.
Well, this series has taken itself to a new level with issue number two! More great action, but also a peek at some of the history of the characters involved. This part of the story seems trivial now, but it feels as though this and also the part where “Link” touched Faustus, will be nothing short of huge in the coming issues. Sometimes jumping back and forth from the past and present can be a problem, but not here, as Oeming shows great breaking points to let the reader know what’s going on. And that is the key right there to jumping around!
As far as the artwork goes, this issue is great just as the previous one was. Very cool scenery, and the page that showed the entire team was just awesome! It was cool to see the different character designs and then also get to see them in action as they kicked butt! What will the Jackal and Link do to Faustus? Will his team bail him out or will they turn their backs on him? Who knows, but the task of getting there looks to be invigorating! Rating 4.5/5
Billy Dunleavy
billy@comicattack.net
