Title: The Cape #2
Writers: Jason Ciaramella (Inspired by short story by Joe Hill)
Art: Zach Howard
Colors by Nelson Daniel
Published by IDW
Reviewed by Johnny Destructo

If you’re not reading this series, you deserve to have an angry bear dropped on your face. From the very first last page of the one-shot that came out far too long ago, I knew this was a book that would interest me, and it hasn’t let me down so far. It just keeps getting better and better. If you haven’t read any of The Cape (and NO, it has nothing to do with that terrible TV show from last season), stop reading this review and go buy the one-shot and the two issues that are on shelves now.

Now that the noobs are gone, I can feel good about spoiling this series, if not this exact issue. I love what a completely sociopathic ass this character is. Eric is entirely apathetic, devoid of a sense of right or wrong and absolutely terrifying. Which is strange to say, because up until the cape, he was a totally useless, underachieving slacker. Chances are, we all know this guy. But the thing is, he’s played enough video games that he’s creative with how he will mess you up…until you die from it. So far, he has taken his girlfriend on a romantic flight over town…and dropped her from a very great height onto a concrete fountain. He’s gone to the zoo and dropped a friggin’ BEAR into a convertible, killing some detectives. Ok, granted, when I type it all out like this…he does a lot of dropping things from the sky. But in issue 2, he gets even more creative, and it’s do deliciously entertaining to watch. I won’t spoil it here, because the surprise is half the fun, but believe me, it’s a great read.

The art by Zach Howard works brilliantly despite it being slightly cartoony in nature. My only minor complaint is the he goes a little overboard with the size of his zip-a-toning. It remains the same size no matter the panel. So someone drawn really small still has giant-sized zip-a-tone covering them. It muddies up the book a little and is slightly jarring to the eye. Otherwise though, Howard does a really great job bringing a dark and creepy look to a story that deserves it. This talented sumbitch is quickly becoming one of my favorites.

Do yourself a favor and pick this book up….but a word to the wise: be careful when you tell your lazy friend to get off his ass and find something he’s good at. He just may. And you might be first on his list.