David Schulner is starting off his writing career on a good note. He’s working for Image Comics, his first idea is an ongoing (for the foreseeable future), and he’s got Juan Jose Ryp as his contributing artist. The only way his life could get better right now is if he was asked to own a share of the company. The first issue of Clone was a nice set up into this sci-fi thriller involving a very confused man who realizes he is a clone.

In this issue, we get more of the set up but Schulner keeps it interesting by adding some depth to the origin. Of course the government is involved with shady experiments, but we know that at least one of the men responsible for the experiment, the Vice President, is trying to kill it. It’s nice that for once the government isn’t necessarily the villains here or at least plain evil. Also, Schulner shows the seemingly endless swarm of clones and I hope we get to learn more about them. The one he focuses on clearly has a past I am interested in seeing. This isn’t a perfect issue by any means, the action sequences are a bit too generic for me and I feel like I’m reading a hokey action movies at time. Still, for a new writer he certainly doesn’t drop the ball on his second issue (‘ever’ I should add).

I could gush about Juan Jose Ryp for many, many, many paragraphs. But for this particular issue I can only say how gorgeous this issue looked from start to finish. It is amazing, yet again to add, how much detail he puts into each panel. The wrinkles on character’s faces, showing the architecture of a Senate building (for only three panels!), and you can easily tell what characters are doing in the backgrounds. That is an insane level of dedication for one man, especially since he inks his only work as well. The only problem I had with this issue was that, for some reason, a double page spread got chopped in half. You see the tent all of the clones are in and it isn’t continuous. I have a sneaking suspicion that because Image doesn’t put ads in their comics that it ruined the flow of the issue. That is not a knock on Ryp because he clearly drew the spread as one drawing. Shame on Image for not seeing that before printing.

So apart from a printing hiccup by Image, this was a pretty damn good issue. I am a bit amazed that a new comer like David Schulner is doing such a great job for only his second issue he’s ever written. This is a fun read and it is nice that Schulner isn’t going for the obvious story beats for a sci-fi thriller like this. That and he is blessed to have one of the best (and most underrated) artists working for him right now with Juan Jose Ryp. It is still quite early in this series so I definitely recommend it to anyone who is still unsure about the book.