This, the second issue in the “Drown the World” arc, was, um, challenging. The creative team tries to maintain thematic consistency across the book but their stylistic choices preclude the sense of fluidity and coherence that previous issues conveyed so well.

Although it begins in the present, the narrative quickly switches to five (!) different time periods and makes six (!!) transitions to different sub-stories over a mere twenty pages. Artistically, the presentation was a bit confusing as there aren’t a lot of “traditional” elements such as gutters and panels of uniform shape or size to help ground the reader in a familiar storytelling “language.” On a title as complex and expansive as this, familiarity and consistency may facilitate understanding, particularly given the non-linear nature of the narrative.

One consistent element throughout the issue is a close-up image embedded in a word balloon at the beginning of each sub-story. I’m assuming the purpose of this device is to direct the reader’s attention to or accentuate the details of something of import but I had difficulty drawing out these meanings and their relation to the broader narrative.

Structural and stylistic issues notwithstanding, readers do get a better sense of how the sub-stories will eventually converge but this understanding is only enabled by a heavy reliance upon a deus ex machina device. The otherwise inexplicable appearances of secondary (tertiary? quaternary?) characters add to an already lengthy and somewhat unwieldy list of characters.

I was lost during much of this issue. At times, I was literally confused at the level of the plot, while at others, I was confounded by the narrative structure and the stylistic choices of the art. This issue was disappointing not because it pales in comparison to the Blackman/Williams III arc or the Rucka/Williams III run before it but because it simply failed to coalesce into something intelligible.