Evil Ernie #2

As i mentioned in the review for the first issue, i was a HUGE fan of Evil Ernie and his extended universe back in the day, so im glad to have that excited feeling back when i see the new issue on the shelves each month. If you havent already picked up the first issue then go ahead and pick it up before reading this as its a direct continuation of the story, i guess you could read this without reading number 1 but you would be missing out on the start of a great book.

This month we get a deeper insight into Ernie's new powers and just what his newly animated friend and button, Smiley has in store for him. In his newly re-animated state Ernie has a finite amount of arcane energy which he can use to blast flesh from bone or to create huge explosions. He also has the ability to see who has sin and who is without, this makes it easier for him to see who he should be killing and should make his ongoing mission easier to acomplish. In the previous series Ernie killed pretty much anyone he came accross, this new, dark avenger Ernie is not without compassion and is more like a surgical instrument in his killing choosing to let the innocents go free and murder those with the greatest sins. Its also very aparent that Ernie dosent see himself as a bad guy, he just wants to take revenge on those who have wrong him and he feels justified in these actions, equally obvious is that Smiley knows way more than he is letting on and is attempting to guide Ernie on the path he wants him to go down. Its not clear if Ernie can survive without his button like in the previous series but just like before Smiley is a wise cracking little guy with a seriously messed up sense of humour and sure ill say it, hes kinda cute.

So the next issue itself is the third part of the new origin story and so far im enjoying this re-telling of an iconic horror character. In a world where even Magneto and Dr Doom have become misunderstood non villains its not enough any more to just have someone killing people because its fun, after re-reading some of my old Ernie comics from before its obvious that the kind of comic that this used to be just wouldnt work today. What Snider has done is create a relateable and way more human version of our goulish friend and given him a purpose that dosent revolve around a tall blonde busty female with a fascination with grave yards. I have a feeling this is going to be an Ernie we are all rooting for and relate to and i cant wait to see the origin part, which is arguably the hardest thing to write in an ongoing series, wrap up so we can see the bigger picture.

The art is something that irks me just a tiny bit, Jason Craig is a great artist and i love his pencils but the issue for me is the covers. Adrian Syaf and Dan Brereton have done the two best covers in both books but they bare little resemblance to the art style that Craig uses. When i pick up a book i (sometimes stupidly) expect the art on the cover to match that on the interior and when it dosent, it is a little jarring. Its not a deal breaker and it certainly does nothing to spoil the enjoyment of the book, but i wouldnt mind seeing Craig draw one of the covers himself or maybe for Syaf to do an ark at some point.

So there you have it, a near flawless book featuring a character that shouldnt really work but does from an era of comics that shouldnt exist today but do. Pick up this series if you want to read a proper take on an anti hero, Snider may be reaching the conclusion of the origin next month but this rollercoaster isnt even close to stopping yet!