Writer: Lela Gwenn Interior and Cover Artist: Matthew Dow Smith Colorist: Kelly Fitzpatrick
Thanks to Dark Horse for providing a copy of Bad Luck Chuck #2 for review!
There are some minor spoilers ahead, so if you want to avoid them you should stop reading now.
Unfortunately for Chuck, she has run out of good luck herself in the 2nd installment of her story. What she thought was a windfall turns into a plain old flop and she’s forced to inflict some bad luck to compensate.
I continue to love the premise for this series. This particular issue contains a fair amount of exposition about Chuck and who she is. I really enjoyed learning more about her, and why she behaves the way she does with others. It’s easy to see why she’s distant from people and doesn’t seem to have many established relationships. Because the exposition is really the focus this time, the action in the present fell a bit flat for me. I often find that’s the case after the opening of a story, the next few issues feel somewhat slower. That’s certainly the case here, though I’m very excited to see how all the moving pieces will come together later.
At this point there are several different factions who want control of Chuck because of her previous actions. She has upset prominent crime lords, police officers, and a cult leader at this point. It’s almost as if no one has worse luck than she does! Though I do enjoy seeing her muck things up for annoying people, I’m not quite sure how I feel about her yet. She’s fairly self-serving, but she’s also driven to do what she needs to do. There’s some brashness there that I really enjoy, and I look forward to seeing what she’ll do next.
The artwork isn’t my personal favorite, though I do appreciate how expressive the facial expressions are. At times the scenes appear a bit flat, which may be due more to a lack of shadow than the line work itself. There’s a look of androgyny to Chuck that I really enjoy. From her name to her clothing, and even her body language there’s a lot about her that isn’t coded as female.
I’m looking forward to see what luck has in store for Chuck next!
Bad Luck Chuck #2 comes out on April 24, 2019
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