Terminal Hero #2 Review

Will this series manage to overcome it’s disappointing opening issue? Read on to find out.

The official description from Dynamite:

Peter Milligan continues with his vision of Terminal Hero! Rory always thought he was a good man, but that seems like a long time ago. Still reeling from the terrible side-effects of Treatment Q and the fact that he killed his best friend, Rory’s life now takes an even darker and more complicated turn when he’s approached by two members of British Intelligence. After a strange meeting with what’s left of the man who developed Treatment Q, Rory is desperate to escape from the violent new life he’s being forced to lead. But is he will to pay the price?

It’s fair to say that Terminal Hero got of to a less than stellar start, with the questionable title, and overload of information being a massive negative. Things do however start to look up, as though this series is far from becoming a must read, it’s starting to creep into the territory of readable. Following on from the gripping climax of the opening issue, Rory agrees to work for the British intelligence, helping them stop terrorists, and other threats.

Peter Milligan creates an engaging script in Terminal #2, with the former Hellblazer writer starting to slowly grab my attention. Though the concept of a hero still seems to have a massive question mark over it’s head throughout this story, the way in which Milligan expands on Rory’s characteristics, and emotions really did captivate me. In addition I also loved the way in which he reacted in an almost neutral way when dealing with the British intelligence. Despite all this I did feel that things were moving a little too quickly, with it feeling a bit rushed.

One thing that didn’t win me over however was Piotr Kowalski‘s art. Despite showing talent throughout, producing smooth, dramatic layout, the rough edgy style of Kowalski proved off putting. There were however moments where I questioned these feelings, as bar the characters themselves, the detail throughout was amazing. One thing that I did love about the visuals was Kelly Fitzpatrick‘s bold colours, with the mixture of light and dark tones helping the art to really pop. In addition Jae Lee produces yet another fabulous cover, with the symbolism being very appealing.

Terminal Hero starts to make improvements, as though it’s a long way from being a must read, this issue certainly does enough to merit a recommendation.