Two weeks ago I was pretty rough on the first issue of The Adventures of Augusta Wind, mostly because of some problems with the lettering and/or coloring. While the offending text turned out to be more legible in print than onscreen, there were still some terrible choices made in the book’s production, and those persist in issue two. Here’s the official description of The Adventures of Augusta Wind #2 from IDW:

Forgotten by her family, hunted by the Omniphant, Augusta Wind seeks safety in the deeps of the other-dimensional Swirl.  But the dangers of the Swirl may prove to be far worse than the threats Augusta left behind on Earth.

Right away, I need to say that there are portions of Augusta Wind #2 that I literally can’t read. The white letters in light blue caption boxes are impossible to read on my computer screen, and even in print they make for a terrible combination. Other color combinations in the text are almost as bad and the presence of made-up words like “snerpent” doesn”t help, when you’re trying to infer your way through a sentence.

Unfortunately, the more of Augusta Wind I do manage to read, the more problems I find with it. J.M. DeMatteis‘ story is decidedly dark, given that the book is aimed at an all-ages audience. In this issue alone, Augusta goes on an extremely phantasmagorical journey, which includes balloons with teeth, and her enter family forgets she exists. There are positive elements: the plot is technically sound, the humor is chuckle-worthy, and I ‘m interested to continue exploring Augusta’s duality.

Vassilis Gogtzilas‘ art is incredibly evocative, but doesn’t do much to lighten the mood. The black backgrounds, while striking, are pretty gloomy, and the sketch-like quality of the work makes the story more difficult to follow. The design of a newly introduced antagonist is eye-catching and pretty awesome, and will call to mind the DC villain Trigon, among other characters.

Most of Augusta Wind‘s problems could be solved with great ease. The most obvious is, of course, the issues with the text, but most of the other failures result from the creators trying too hard. If they were only to relax a bit, with a less troubling, less hurried story and less frantic art, Wind would definitely pick up.

2.5/5