Review: Haunted City #2

I tend to have problems with books that can’t consistently startwith the main character in the present time line. It’s a gimmick that seems tobe used a lot in comics and the problem is, it’s relying on you having read theprevious issue recently. I don’t know about you, but I don’t go back re-readthe previous issue before reading the next. HauntedCity opens in such a manor in the fact that our main characters is no where to be found for several pages.

In 1975, some bad shit was going down in Harlem. Ournarration comes to us from an African American man standing on a roof topwatching a city riot. He’s the Hoodoo Man and his role in everything isunclear. Harlem is rioting due to the deaths of four African American girls;this opens the city up for other crimes as well. Two white cops are sent in todispense justice and they do so with their fists and clubs, which ends in themkilling a man and getting an award for it.

Back in the present day you’ll probably be left wondering, “Whatthe hell did that have to do with anything?” Nothing. It’s back story for ourmain characters father. Tom on the other hand has turned himself into hissuperiors and puts up no fight when they take his badge and gun and place him undersuspension. Frankly the entire opening reads as if they needed some way out ofthe corner they wrote themselves in and decided to made him a legacy cop. He’s barely inany trouble because of his dad… cop out.

Tom then heads to a meeting at a club to deal with the drugdealer that he owes money and or drugs to. His partner is there and the druglord switches into a werewolf and tears his arms off. Um… okay. I thought thatthe world was slowly opening before his eyes? He was supposed to start seeing crapfor what it actually was, not see a guy instantly change in to a werewolf andkill his partner. If the rules of this story made any sense I would say thatthey’re breaking them.

Frankly I wasn’t too impressed with this issue. The first issue had me interested, but all of the characters and practically everything introducedin the first issue are gone from this issue. I really felt like I was reading abrand new comic and now the second (technically the third) issue of a series.The art was great, but I couldn’t look past the story with its awkward pacingand inability to tell a clear and precise story. The sad part is that Grimm has a similar world created and ascheesy as that show is, it does it a lot better than Haunted City. If you enjoyed the first issue you may still enjoythis one. I was very disappointed in this issue and gave it half of the score I did the first. It really made me question my own score of that book until I actually sat down and re-read the first issue. Pretty sad that I ended up doing that any ways.

Score: 2/5

Writer: Chap Taylor and Peter Johnson

Artist: Michael Ryan

Publisher: Aspen Comics

Price: $3.50

Release Date: 2/1/2012