Now, I really like the first issue of Birthright a lot. It was a comic I wasn’t paying much attention or even knew much initially and then it turned out to be such a wonderful surprise.
Birthright #2 (Image Comics)
In the present, the Rhodes Family is trying to come to terms or figure out if this mysterious man claiming to be their son is the real deal. Brennan, the older brother, has an idea and that is to talk to him, to see if he can figure out if this guy is telling the truth. In the past, we see what happened to Mikey when he went to another world and him begin his training and seeing why he is needed.
Though… shouldn’t we be using one of the parents instead of the kid?
Now, this issue was just fine. Not as good as the previous issue, but it was fine. There wasn’t a whole lot of plot progression and the family element was not as strong as before. Outside of the ending, the story didn’t move forward much in either the past or the present. Neither we nor the characters learn anything new about what is going on and not much was accomplished, which is a little bit disappointing. As for the family angle, outside of the opening, we didn’t have much with the family interacting with one another or seeing much of the connection with each other (just carrying on from whether they were in the first issue and not much else). These parts did hold the comic back a bit.
That being said though, the rest of the comic was still very good. The backstory we did get into Mikey’s past was nice and helps a bit with painting what the other world was like. The characterization was pretty solid, though again, it would have been nice to see a bit more of the family aspect then what we got. The dialogue is decent, but nothing really jumped out this time around. The pacing was fine, never feeling like it drags during the slow moments due to how interesting everything is. Even if not much was accomplished until the end of the comic, you are still invested in the story and the events to want to know what happens next. There’s never a moment where you’re bored by what is happening and the book does leave off on a good note for both the present and past stories, definitely making you want to stick around to find out more.
I’m still admittedly mixed on the artwork. It still retains the excellent quality that we’ve seen in the previous issue. It’s very detailed, the inking and coloring are well-polished, the layouts and angles used are great, as are the designs and locations seen in the book. Plus, the addition of the action and movement with the characters looks impressive. However, the characters are still a bit iffy to me. They look fine up close, but the farther they get away from the reader, they just start looking weird. Hopefully the artwork gets better on this in the end. The only other thing that’s sort of off is the final page and in particular, the last two panels. The scene is during the middle of a snowstorm and for some reason, something becomes less covered in snow. It’s hard to tell if its rising out of the snow or if it’s just a goof. Either way, it looks a bit off.
Is It Good?
Birthright #2 is a good continuation of the story, just not exactly as great as the first issue. It doesn’t move the story forward too much and the family aspect isn’t nearly as strong as it was in the first issue. Nevertheless though, the writing and its ability to pull you in still remains strong, as does most of the artwork. It’s still definitely worth your time, so go check it this out, along with the first if you haven’t yet.
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