Imaginary Fiends #2 Review and ***SPOILERS***

Not The Spider-Woman You Know

Written by: Tim Seeley
Art by: Stephen Molnar, Quinton Winter, and Carlos M. Mangual
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: December 27, 2017

***NON-SPOILERS AND SCORE AT THE BOTTOM***

After an absolutely wild first issue, I'm excited to see where this one is going to go. Tim Seeley has set up an awesome premise with the idea of IMPs that start out as a child's imaginary friend, but can potentially develop into much more sinister fixations. For Melba Li, the IMP Polly Peachpit has haunted her for six years, but now she has to work with Polly to help solve other IMP cases for the FBI. Damn, just writing that sounds cool to me. Let's take a look here and see if this issue delivers as well as the first.


Explain It!

This second issue starts off with Agent Crockett and Melba investigating the missing boy case from the previous issue. Crockett takes a sample of something he finds on a flower, then the two head off. Crockett takes Melba to a huge house in Kentucky that they can stay at as a safehouse. Melba is introduced to Loretta, who takes care of the house, and her infant son Omari. When they start going over the case, Melba says that she doesn't think that it's an IMP case. According to Crockett, these IMPs feed on fear, but it seems like this kid is afraid of everything and if there was an IMP, it was protecting him.

Melba hasn't had a meal out at a restaurant in years, so she wants to go out and get some food. Crockett tells her no and Polly Peachpit wants her to stay in so that they can play games, but Melba looks at her badge and notices that it says that she's 23, even though she's 18. So naturally, like any 18-year-old with a fake ID, she heads to a bar.

But before we get to that, we get to see how Cameron Calle and Charlie Chokecherry are coming along. They stop in a gas station bathroom for a break, and Cameron begs Charlie to give him an idea of where they're going. Cameron has a flashback of the day Brinke was stabbed, but he sees visions of where where Melba is as well. He falls and hits his head on the sink, but he knows where they have to go now to get revenge on both Melba and Polly.

Heading to the bar, we get an awkward, funny exchange between Melba and the bartender as she tries to order a drink but has no idea what she's doing. The whole time, Polly is trying to talk her out of drinking the poison, but Melba wants to block Polly out for a little while. Melba ends up getting trashed and stumbles her way back to the house. As she's lying on the floor at the top of the steps, Polly goes to investigate little Omari in his crib. Polly is about to take a chew on his mind when Melba starts puking in her mouth, so Polly rushes out to roll her over and help her.

Meanwhile, Crockett is in his room doing a Flamenco dance while talking to the higher-ups in the IMP division. After he hangs up, the Flamenco dance induces some type of flashback, and we see that his old partner Mercy must have died because he couldn't see one of the IMPs, and now he is determined to see everything.

In the morning, Melba is nursing a hangover. August, the cleaning lady and cook, cleaned up after Melba and agreed not to tell Crockett. Melba says she's never drinking again and August actually gives a pretty deep reason why people drink at all. She tells her that when people drink, they get to create a new character for themselves. While they're chatting, Polly is back up in Omari's room trying to get him to fear her so that she can feed. But Omari doesn't seem to notice Polly, and she fades out of view as she says, "If I do not have fear, I'm not real."

Crockett takes the sample from the flower to a nearby lab to examine it. After looking at it under a microscope for a while, he determines that it's stomach acid with something else in there. It turns out to be milk, but not from a cow, from a cat. The issue ends with a search party out looking for Justin, the missing boy. He hears them, but he is in a barn that none of them can see. The Fraidy Cat, another IMP, tells him to pay no mind, and we see that there are three other kids there as well, and they are all laying down drinking her milk.

While this issue wasn't as crazy and action-packed as the last one, it was still really good. Tim Seeley gives some good world-building and character development here as we see a little more of what these IMPs are all about. Stephen Molnar's art is still great, and the colors from Quinton Winter look awesome. I'm honestly surprised at just how much I'm enjoying this book, but I'm all in for the ride now.

Bits and Pieces:

This may be a much slower-paced issue than the first, but it provides some character work as we see this world laid out for us. With great art and an interesting premise, Tim Seeley is delivering a great book through 2 issues. I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a fun story with a hint of creepiness as well.

8.0/10