Emily and the Strangers #2 Review


Will Emily ever be able to play nice with others, especially with a live performance on the way?

Official desciption from Dark Horse:

Emily’s ready to rock ‘n’ roll, but to attain her dream of making the strangest, coolest tunes ever to grace a radio, she needs to learn to play with others—no easy task with five styles in the mix. There’s a chance that the group can make it big…if they find a common tune.

Its Emily’s first time meeting the rest of Evan’s band and their practice is dreadful. After her and Evan exchange words, our protagonist walks out. While in a record store, she bumps into Raven, a cyborg she created, who happens to wants to join the band. Emily allows her to come on board as the drummer. Even with the addition of a fifth member, the band still sucks. Can they get it together in time to perform live?

Writers Mariah Huehner and Rob Reger show a little more inside the mind of Emily Strange in this outing and results are mostly good. When Evan stated that she didn’t care about music, it had me wondering if she’s just doing this for the fame more than her love of lyrical creation but withthe introduction of Raven this issue picked up speed.  It was a surprise and a definite plus as we end things with Willow being the only sound mind in the group suggesting team work and stating they need Professa Kraken.  Overall a good but not great read.

Illustrator Emily Ivie pencils Emily Strange as more alive than the earlier drawings of the character.  But somehow the talent still captures the standoffish quality that she inherently has and to be honest I prefer this take on the property.  It goes perfect with the narrative in a way that uplifts the overall quality.

All in all, Emily and the Strangers #2 was a good set up for next month’s release but it still kind of felt like an introductory piece which was both a good thing and a bad thing. But it still earns a recommendation.

3/5

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