Babyteeth #2 Review

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Yea Baby!
Writer: Donny CatesArtist: Garry BrownPublisher: Aftershock ComicsRelease Date: July 5, 2017Cover Price: $3.99

After the first issue of Babyteeth I was a little down on the complete package, but I was intrigued and interested in the concept overall. I like the concept of skipping past all the Omen foreshadowing tropes or the back and forth of ‘is it’ or ‘isn’t it’. From the second issue I’d actually like a little more character and less of what felt like a pilot or a concept proof.  So will the second issue do more to pull me in, or will I be left not really satisfied.

Right out of the gate the issue actually starts with one of my biggest pet peeves in storytelling: Starting the story with a flash forward. Now, I’m not saying they’re all bad, and it can’t be used effectively, it’s just the concept of starting a story by saying “Hey this gets interesting later on, promise!” It comes across as if the writer feels there is no effective hook in the current focus of the story. The flash forward alone wouldn’t usually bother me too much, but on top of the scene it shows we also get narration of multiple other things that we’re meant to see moving forward.  Hopefully I remember by the time they show up, if not reminded every issue, or I’m sucked into the current timeline enough to keep me reading.

What we actually see is a glimpse of Heather threatening to kill a man after seemingly beating him near to death already. On top of which we get narration that suggests Sadie has a moment where she could be dying in some way. It’s a bit of a flurry and not much overall, which just goes to further frustrate me as it seems mostly unneeded other than to further hint at stuff down the line which only takes focus away from what could be currently unraveling.

After the quick cold open, we get Sadie attempting to get the baby to feed as Heather is in the process of getting ready to sneak out and sell drugs by Sadie’s own admission. As she sneaks out the Captain, Sadie’s father, makes his entrance which Heather seemed to be avoiding.

This part doesn’t have a lot to really recap, but it does a lot for the book. The characters’ voices come across really well while adding a lot to the story. We get the relationship of this family coming across with just interactions while not needing the plot to progress an exorbitant amount. We get the idea this family is not exactly traditional or completely perfect, but they have a support system and they have each other’s back. It really does a lot to pull me more into this book.

We next jump into an Illuminati style plot going on somewhere with some men in black putting together the process of locating Sadie’s baby. It gives the impression this has been going on quite a while and this baby may not be the first to come about in this way. We also get down to the dark ass matter of killing babies, which leads us into our next scene where we meet two great characters. We meet Sidney and her father who quickly come off as capital C characters. We get the fake out that the men in black are in need of the fathers services before we learn that Sidney herself is known as the “Prairie Dog” and is a gun for hire herself. Eventually we jump back to Sadie and her father which leads us into a cliffhanger that I found not as impactful as the previous scene, but found intriguing none the less.

Overall this issue did a lot more to pull me in than the first issue. Between the great character moments with Sadie and her family and introducing new plot threads along with some really interesting characters. Despite the teasing of future possibilities, this issue did more to actually pull me into the relationships of the characters and wanting to see more interactions and strain within those confines rather than think about plot to pick up on later.

Bits and Pieces:

Despite a bumpy start that irritates a personal pet peeve, great character interactions and interesting introductions brought me around to really enjoy this issue and has me anxious to return and get more of these characters. 

8.6/10