Children of the Grave #2 releases February 10 from Scout Comics. This issue is written by Sam Romesburg and Ben Roberts with art by illustrator Gioele Filippo, colorist Marco Lesko and letterer Justin Birch. Within this part of a sci-fi horror thriller, conflict rears its ugly head. Because, in times when the paranoid are being punished, finding someone to trust can be nerve wracking.
Background
Children of the Grave is about a post-apocalyptic Earth now known as Terra. People are blissfully ignorant of the world around them, choosing to blindly follow the Providers who give them everything they need to survive and thrive. All except Daniel, who finds the life on Terra both boring if not outright dominating.
Children of the Grave #2: Cult Behaviors
What makes Children of the Grave #2 stand out is how Romesburg and Roberts implement perspective. The lead character, Daniel, is by all accounts a conspiracy theorist. No matter how right he is about a situation, he’s unhappy with his life. It certainly doesn’t help that the decisions he has to make don’t seem to be leading to anything good.
The priest, Brother Cruise, who serves as ambassador of the Providers, is anything but nurturing. He’s more than willing to harm and imprison others who go against him. The way Cruise makes it all sound like Daniel is a public enemy only furthers the cult-like connections.
Then there’s Daniel’s potential new ally, “The Mother,” who asks Daniel to meet her alone. She seems to be wanting to alienate him. Abusers use alienation from loved ones to maintain their power. So, she may not be trustworthy. It’s a nice surprise, then, when Daniel brings a friend along and she doesn’t scold him. Not that it makes the revelations she’s about to provide any easier to digest. Truths can be more of a burden than a blessing.
It’s certainly good that a series takes strides to make readers feel things like this. This way readers keep interest for much longer.
Uneasy Perspectives
The artwork by Filippio provides this ever present sense of unease in Children of the Graves #2. In certain panels, the architecture looks distorted, making the reader empathize with the ever vigilant Daniel even more. The scenes with Mother holding a rifle as Daniel and Cyrus go to meet her also feels ominous. Daniel had, in all respects, disobeyed Mother and it looks like she was ready to punish him for it.
The semi-muted coloring from Lesko certainly helps bring a sense of melancholy, especially in the darkened areas Daniel hides in. Things might look all nice and dandy in the town, especially to the citizens. But to Daniel, it’s all just a reminder of Cruise hiding something important.
The lettering by Birch gives even more weight to Children of the Graves #2. With tensions already high, the word balloons take up the panels and add more weight. This, in juxtaposition with some actions taking place, makes tensions rise until a bigger action explodes onto the page.
Get Children of the Graves #2 When You Can
Children of the Graves #2 is a point where readers are getting absorbed into the plot. The series beckons them to see the rest of it all through. That is if the scary secrets like cult abuse don’t drive the readers away. Ignorance, in this case, may be bliss. Nobody ever says that truths are easy. Consequently, this allows for empathy and connection to characters going through hard times. That’s enough for me to keep reading.
