365 Comics...298: Zero #2 (2013)

Zero #1 was a bit of  a blind buy for me.  I was familiar with only one of writer Ales Kot's previous works but I had no prior knowledge about what the series was about or how it would play out.  It was an engaging first issue, military and espionage elements, with gritty, heavy artwork.  I was expecting a second chapter to follow along, carrying the threads introduced, with the same artistic team.  Instead we get a flashback to Edward Zero as a boy, training for the agency, and taking on his first mission.   The art comes from Tradd Moore, artist of the Luther Strode series, an egregiously hyper-violent series that reaches for Mark Millar-levels of fanboy wish fulfillment.  I thought Moore's work was distinct and interesting, the story of Luther Strode far less so.  It's great to see his work again in a different, better-written context, though the drastic differences between his style and Michael Walsh's from the first issue is very jarring.

I like both of these stories, and although they don't form a cohesive narrative in any way, they're painting a picture of this character.  And this issue provides a little context with respect to where the first issue begins.

I'm loving the design work on this title from Tom Muller... that garish logo alone makes the book stand out.