The Old Guard #2 Review and **Spoilers**

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Mortal Combat

Writer: Greg Rucka

Artist: Leandro Fernandez

Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: March 29, 2017

With some minor trepidation we return to Greg Rucka’s not-so-immortal warrior tale in The Old Guard. With not a lot really grabbing me in the first issue, I come into this issue with honestly a lot of hope. I like this premise; I just want something there to pull me in and wanting to come back each month. Will The Old Guard do that for me this time around? Let’s find out…

We first start with some flashes of the past as we get some narration on how these “relic’s” come to find out what they are and just how they find each other. Again I like these panels as the art takes a nice contrast approach that goes well with the dream or flashback state of it. There are some other aspect of the art later on that I have some issues with, but I have really liked this aspect of both issues.

Beyond the art we find out that these Relics’s find each other through dreams. They start having dreams of the others dying that eventually leads them to find each other. Aside from this explanation we also get a little background from the general age of some of these characters and how Andy first came into contact with them as she is the oldest. I like this approach to filling in the details of them coming together, but it still doesn’t do too much for the characters themselves as there is still little known about them.

We get Andy waking up from her dream as she reflects on her being the oldest and never finding someone older than herself. After this we meet another throwaway character in their helicopter pilot as Andy mentions they will never be using him again as he’s now been around them for five years and that’s where it starts to be too long and starts to bring up questions and brings them too close. Beyond this, this part seemed pretty pointless as we head back into another dream.

Now is when the issue picks up some speed as all the Relic’s seem to wake up after experiencing the same dream. Here is where we get a little more character moments from the group as Andy wakes up angry and the rest of the crew wakes up instantly working to find the person. It may give us a little more for Andy in that she may just be tired of what they’re doing and ready to die, as she has mentioned it being peaceful multiple times, but it also gives a bit on the rest of the crew. The rest of the group is pretty calm and just jumping into the motion of finding someone they view as needing saved. It’s just a little bit but with what little we’ve been given with the rest of this crew it’s enough.

Next we catch back up with James, the man from the previous issue that set the Relic’s up in an attempt to expose them, as he relays his findings with what seems to be his benefactor. We find out that there were some mess ups with the recordings and there was no sound so there is less faith put on the footage than James would have hoped.  We also find out the James’ benefactor is going to settle for little less than one of the Relic’s in person. Not much to go on here other than seeing the stakes will ramp up soon and that the man really behind this may be a little…intense. He seems to me like a common villain in recent media. He’s the rich, slightly crazy person that puts a lot of time and energy in fitness due to having an intense personality. I’ll be happy to be wrong, but so far this seems like a direct copy to some more recent fictional villains.

We end off with Freeman, the soldier from the last issue, as Andy has catches up with her and does her best to catch her up as fast as possible. There’s some comedy here in the way these exchanges go down, but it still comes off a little as retread as we already dealt with the first half of the issue giving some of this same rundown. If they could have somehow more improved one another or were in service of the other I think it would have come off a little better, but the way it’s presented we just now get a different kind of delivery on the same message. As the time skips ahead a bit we get Andy and Freeman arriving at a safe house they have set up in an attempt to meet up with the rest of the crew and here we actually get a cliff hanger that has me wanting to come back. Not so much because I’m attached to what actually happens, but it makes me think we may get answers to some questions I had a little sooner than I thought we would previously.

I ended up liking this issue a little more than the first issue, but overall it really just feels bland to me. There just doesn’t seem to be a lot going for it. We get a semi highlander style story but only one real character to attach to who just comes off as miserable. The mystery isn’t too huge and the conflict is barely a conflict because we don’t really know what could come of it. Two issues in and I still feel little reason to recommend or to keep coming back to this book. I like the art style and the premise, but If you want much else there may be better options.

 Bits and Pieces:

With an art style that I like and a little more exposition and world building I like this issue a little more than the first. Beyond that I feel there is little going for this book that’s actually pulling me back for more.

6.5/10