Sideways #2 Review

Haha seriously, where's the wine tasting?

Written by: Kenneth Rocafort, Dan DiDio, and Justin Jordan

Art by: Kenneth Rocafort, Daniel Brown, and Carlos M. Mangual
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: March 14, 2018

The first issue of Sideways was mostly a miss for me but I enjoyed those last few pages, and the introduction of the cosmic entity known as Tempus Fuginaut got me excited for this issue. So does this issue satisfy? Wait and see…

We pick up directly where the first issue ended, with Tempus literally about to kill Derek. Derek seems to be handling this whole situation really well considering a cosmic monster is there to kill him, but hey. Tempus' presence messes up Derek's powers and he has troubles getting away, so he nearly falls to his death. What we get next is the most frustrating part of the issue, which I don't doubt will look cool to those reading the physical issue. We get a double page spread of Derek falling, trying to figure out how to open a rift… except these pages are sideways and are impossible to read. I won't detract points for this since the creators aren't making the comic for me, but for the buying consumer. Still frustrating.

And this is all we get of Tempus Fuginaut in this issue. Wanted to see more of him? Too bad. We're going to deal with some pretty boring stuff from here on out. I'm going to end the spoiler talk here because not much happens after this and you'd best read it yourself.

My first problem with the issue is that the series is already incredibly unfocused. We had two solid plot threads introduced in the last issue: Derek's mom is very protective of him following the incident at Gotham, and Derek now operates as Sideways and apparently does so for fame. An entity enters the equation, threatening every aspect of his life and we don't deal with him. I just expected more from this team. As of now I count two supporting characters, them being Derek's mom and Ernie. I really think a character like this needs a more interesting and diverse line-up of characters to interact with that would flesh out his world.

To make things worse, the writers introduce another villain at the end of this issue. I can guarantee that their fight scene will be the sole focus next issue.

Kenneth Rocafort's art is looking a bit different in this series, likely due to colourist Daniel Brown. I'm not sure if Brown has worked with Rocafort in the past. It looks to me that the art needs stronger inking. The characters look less defined than they should and Rocafort is doing his own inking. Carlos M. Mangual's lettering is also really good, as it works really work in tandem with Rocafort's artwork, helping the lead the reader's eye.

Bits and Pieces:

This issue looks pretty but there's not much to it. The story is unfocused and slightly tiresome already and that shouldn't be the case with a book featuring such a promising lead character. His list of supporting characters needs to be improved as well. The ending got me interested in the next issue so if you're following Eric's three issue rule, you've got one more before bailing.

5.8/10