EAST OF WEST #2

“SONS OF PROPHECY”

Following the high crimes in the debut issue of EAST OF WEST, the fallout spreads across the broken nations of America. Forces align to stave off the apocalypse, while equally powerful ones do everything they can to bring it to pass.

One of the most exciting new books of the year, this is EAST OF WEST, a brand new, ongoing, monthly comic from the award-winning team of Marvel’s FF, JONATHAN HICKMAN and NICK DRAGOTTA.

Story by Jonathan Hickman
Art by Nick Dragotta

Price: $3.50
iFanboy Community Pick of the Week Percentage: 4.5%

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Comments

  1. Looking forward to more pieces of the puzzle falling into place.

  2. I just re-read issue 1 last night. I know it’s waaaay to early to cast the East of West movie, but I couldn’t help but read all of Death’s dialogue in Walton Goggins’ (from The Shield, Justified, Lincoln, Django Unchained). It definitely enhanced my experience.

  3. All the Hickman books come out this week!!!!! This one, MP, and both Avengers books. wowza…

  4. While I didn’t love the first issue like most people here, I did add this to my pull list. But if I don’t really get into it quickly I’ll just move on. At least it’s not a 3.99 Marvel book.

  5. This was the best first issue I’ve read in about 2 years!

  6. I am completely biased on anything Hickman does, but I am truly excited about this issue & exploring more of this wonderful world.

  7. Had to wait for the reorder on #1, so I’ll be getting a double dose of Hickmany goodness. Really excited to check this out.

  8. Really excited for this! Read the first issue 3 times the first night and loved it.

  9. Love, love, loved the first issue. I have been waiting with baited breathe for this to come out! I can’t wait until Wednesday!

  10. The first one was interesting, but I’m on the fence as to how good this really is.
    Fingers crossed.

  11. Everything about last issue was perfect from the writing all the way to the coloring. Gotta expect the same here.

  12. I have to agree with Paul Montgomery’s comment on POTW podcast East of West #1, that I’m not sure I fully understand this story, but I love it just the same

    • See with stories like that, I just can’t love them if I don’t know what’s going on.

      One book I think of is Alan Moore’s Promethea. The art was fantastic, but I had no idea what was going on. I know I’m not dumb, but that book made me feel that way.

      If this title remains too murky for too long it will lose me.

  13. Especially when all of Hickman’s books are coming out this week, i think i’ll go for trades on this one. the first issues exposition fest didn’t grab me like The Manhattan Projects.

  14. So I just reread #1 for the third time, and am even more excited for #2 now. The dialogue was awesome! I kept thinking Tarrentino. The colors were splendid. I thought the story gave the reader enough to follow and get the jist of the big picture, threw out enough loose ends to keep it interesting, and the action was raw. Hopefully #2 keeps up with more of the same. This is a very interesting “Republic”…there’s so much to like in this series: Future politics, wild west outlaws, creepy apocalyptic storyline, a rogue horseman. Even the paper is quality! Top of the stack tomorrow.

  15. I think we needed all of the exposition of last issue to set up this world, but now that it’s gone we can just focus on the characters, last issue left me a little cold but I’m firmly in after reading #2.

  16. My store got shorted, so I didn’t get this. :-/

  17. I missed the first run of issue one, so I just finished reading both issues for the first time.

    Whoah. I gotta say, I have not been sucked in this immediately for a very long time. Even Saga, which I absolutely love, did not make me thirsty for more this quickly. It’s probably the seemless blend of western and scifi (two genres to which I am shamelessly a slave) that made this go down so easy, but Hickman’s knack for generating intrigue and his mastery of the single issue are just unparalleled. I’m no stranger to Hickman, but I am new to Dragotta’s work, and soaking this up I am ashamed to admit that fact.

    I want more of this. And I want it right now. If this doesn’t manage to stick to a dependable schedule, it’s going to become absolutely maddening.

  18. It is a good thing this wasn’t the first issue because it wouldn’t have wowed me like last month.

    An enjoyable issue all around but a lot of world building slowed down the momentum a bit. That is to be expected since Hickman is introducing so much into one issue. The beginning was very good and I do like these people who seemingly control the country for the sake of the horsemen. But again, I think a little TOO MUCH world building hampered the pacing a bit. The art was just as amazing as last time though and Dragotta/Martin are putting on a clinic for only two issues.

    4/5

  19. Great issue!

    SPOILERS:

    All of this world building is going to pay off in spades once the story really starts ramping up!

    Based on the map from last issue, the only country that was throwing me for a loop was “The Kingdom”. I mean we have the Chinese in the west, Texas and The Native Americans in the middle, the Union and the Confederacy on the coast and… The Kingdom. Now that the Crown Prince has been revealed, it all makes sense.

    I suppose my only complaint is, how do the politicians cover up the deaths of so many cabinet members and other high ranking government officials? I mean that was an orgy of bloodshed…

    • The thought crossed my mind, but he doesn’t really show that side of things, so it could go either way. We have no idea how things work in the White Tower, beyond the fact that apparently the chain of command works the same way ours does. These are the horsemen of the apocalypse. They can’t be held accountable in the same way mortals are. It’s bigger than that. Do you really wanna see an investigation into the murder of a buncha mortal politicians? I don’t.

    • It’s not that I want to see an investigation into meaningless characters’ murders (I honestly don’t) but I’m curious as to how the common folk don’t question the fact that so many of their government officials suddenly died just days after the President was assassinated. Unless… The brutal slaughter of those in line of succession is just a common aspect of regime change in this world?

      Given how the Three Horsemen operated with impunity, I suppose it is not that far fetched.

    • Like I said, it stuck out to me too. But we know very little about this world. We haven’t been shown much of the common folk. I just think the stage being set is much too grand a scale to bothered with petty things like the slaughter of half the presidential cabinet. 🙂

    • I agree with @WheelHands, I think since its the horsemen of apoclypse, maybe they didn’t literally die by getting slashed. To mortals it could have been a natural death and/or a natural disaster, which wouldn’t seem as sinister.

  20. Somewhat interesting, but I have yet to grab onto a character I really like.

    • I feel the same way. There’s no one in this book that I really care about, so it just leaves me cold. I want to like it more than I do.

    • @BCDX97 I think it’s too early, but the white horseman seems like a protagonist. He actually kind of seems righteous because he is avenging something.

    • Agreed AmirCat. From what I gather, Death didn’t want to go through with the apocalypse because he fell in love, so he left (or killed) the other three, which resulted in their death and eventual rebirth as children. This cabal of leaders(Faithful to the Message) had a hand in killing his love interest, and now he is out for revenge.

      This makes me want to root for Death and his indian compadres. I think part of it is that Hickman doesn’t want this book to be black/white, good vs, evil, so he’s making every character different shades of gray morally. This can be very interesting to some (read: Me) and not so much to others, but to each their own.

    • @TurdSandwich – first off great name. Also, great analysis! I didn’t realize the rebirth thing with the kids!! Makes total sense.

    • Yeah, he’s definitely the anti-hero of the book. But it’s being revealed a big too slowly. I think one thing Saga has over this book is the concept is simple but the world is vast – this book’s concept is a little more tricky.

      I wonder what the Giant Douche thought of this issue. Or Turd Ferguson.

    • Yeah, there aren’t any characters I care for, either. I want to like Death, but he isn’t depicted as an interesting or complex guy. It’s early yet, but to be honest, I don’t have to adore any of the characters to enjoy the story.

    • The thing that makes this book so cool (and Hickman-y) is that it is a timeless, simple story told against a complicated backdrop of an imagined future world where society and politics are set up differently. Death is our protagonist, and the struggle is a classic: free will vs. the tyranny of God’s great plan. Both sides of the conflict have their appeal at the moment. Maybe humanity should be wiped from the Earth, if the characters we have seen so far are fairly representative. I can’t recall that we’ve seen a single soul worth saving, although we haven’t met everyone. Regardless, the three and the followers of The Message may be justified, especially if Humanity will be reborn after it is destroyed–which is what seems to have happened to the Three. On the other hand, maybe the march toward destruction advocated by The Message is the problem. If universal death and destruction are inevitable, what motivation does anyone have to try to make the world a better place? They’d just be polishing the brass on the Titanic. So, perhaps Death believes there is something inherent to this Earth that could be redeemed, and would be worth saving, if only The Message can be rejected. If so, his position may be justified. It will be interesting to see whether Hickman gives us any mortal characters who clearly deserve a chance at life on this Earth. To me that would be the great litmus test for where his loyalties lie.

    • Yeah, its all about the world to me. All the characters have been interesting though. This issue introduced us to lots, and I can’t wait to get to know them. This comic is awesome so far!

  21. I enjoyed this a lot more than the first issue, which left me puzzled in a bad way. I think reading the first two issues together piques the interest for the series more than just reading the first instalment.

  22. Anyone else get a damaged copy? ALL of the ones shipped to my LCBS were damaged in the bottom right corner. ARRRRRGH!

  23. Antonia LeVey?! As in Anton Lavey, founder of the church of Satan. There might be more to her than meets the eye.
    I liked this issue more than it’s predecessor. And where I find the characters lack complexity, the vast world in which they live is encompassed with intricacies that will keep me interested until we really get to know these inhabitants proper.

  24. Definitely leaves me wanting more.

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