By Jacob Cordas — Genre fiction is often a trip into disappointment. While I have a deep seated affection for the swashbuckling and screams that make up this world, so much of the time the classics are filled with toxicity that you need to tune out to enjoy the pieces. Modern examples often attempt to avoid these issues by acting like that past toxicity doesn’t exist (i.e. 2003’s Pirates of the Caribbean). Occasionally we’ll get an attempt at modernization, that wants to engage with those elements of the source material but struggles under the weight of the seemingly incompatible goals (i.e. 2016’s Tarzan). Outside of the latest Duck Tales television show though, the most successful updates of genre fiction storytelling are always original stories that lean into and critique the tropes (i.e. Alan Moore’s Providence). 

Adventureman is the pitch perfect example of this. And it’s no surprise considering the skill writer Matt Fraction (Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen, Hawkeye, Sex Criminals) has at deconstructing the things we love and assembling them into a fresh visage. Here he has taken apart the pieces of adventure storytelling, crafting them into a story I can’t wait to read more of. 

In this second issue, they have cleaned up the overwhelming exposition of the first issue (really a symptom of the amount of world building necessary for this story but I won’t pretend it didn’t affect my enjoyment of it) making for a smooth story of exploration and adventure. It fixes all this while serving as a subtle critique of the very genre it is a part of. Most notably in that vein, I love the use of our protagonist’s hearing aid as a weapon against the out-of-date robot security guards (I also love I get to write that sentence). It serves as a perfect display of the character’s ingenuity and strength while merging those traits with her disability - not delineating between the two like so many stories often do. 

The art here, by the team of Terry Dodson and Rachel Dodson (Teen Titans: Earth One), is great with a wonderful sense of movement and color - the lifeblood of any good genre story. If it fails to give a sense of energy (more than in any other style of story), it would fail. But god, it’s so good. Whether she is reading in a coffee shop, riding a moped or getting pulled into a building that almost certainly didn’t exist the day before, a dynamism carries through it all. A few of the pages I had issues flipping past because they are just so much fun to look at. 

If there is any critique to be made with this issue, I occasionally struggled with the lettering. In this issue the text of the book she is reading is represented on the page. While I loved the font choice for it, the white coloring of the letters often made it difficult to read. It is worth noting I read a digital copy so maybe that issue isn’t present in the print copy. However I tried on multiple different devices and still struggled to read those passages. 

Truly though, these are minor quibbles. Over-archingly this is a great comic and a wonderful addition to the world of adventure fiction. I can’t wait to read more of it.

Overall: Adventureman #2 is such a fun comic that even with its occasional stumbles I can’t help but be excited for everything that comes next. 8/10

Adventureman #2 - REVIEW

Adventureman #2
Writer: Matt Fraction
Pencil and Colors: Terry Dodson
Inks: Rachel Dodson
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Designer: Leonardo Olea
Publisher: Image 
Price: $3.99 
The mysterious disappearance of the original Adventureman gets a little more complicated when, in the modern era, single mom Claire Connell stumbles into his legacy. But with the adventuremantle come untold dangers from those who would seek to destroy it!
Release Date: July 08, 2020
Buy It Digitally: Adventureman #2

Read more great comic book reviews here!

My name is Jacob Cordas (@jacweasel) and I am not qualified to write this.