The Good
Issue #2 gives readers a little bit of history of Scorpion (Hanzo) as he trains Fox and Takeda. However, something is going on with Fox that's pretty creepy. Also, Raiden pops up to talk to Scorpion, and when Raiden shows up to talk to you, everything is about to go to hell, not literally though.
Writer Shawn Kittelsen has a handle on these characters and on the mythology, without a doubt. He understands where these characters are going and more importantly who they are. Mortal Kombat doesn't have the easiest mythos to tackle, since so much of it is contained in small paragraphs on character bios within the game. Again, Kittelsen gives readers a pretty easily understandable entrance into this world. These characters don't feel bogged down with history from their previous incarnations. They feel fresh and very friendly to new readers.
As far as story goes, we get two really cool moments in this issue. The first one involves Raiden popping in to warn Scorpion about upcoming events. Raiden's design looks great and he comes off a bit more mysterious here. Yes, mysterious is a word that pops up a lot in this review because mystery is a big part of these first two issues. The second cool moment deals with Fox and Takeda. We're not spoiling anything here, but it's just as cool as it is disturbing. Once again, we get a bit of violence without the focus of the book being "shock-factor gore."
It's great to see DC putting someone of Dexter Soy's caliber on art. He and colorist Veronica Gandini do a wonderful job on this second issue. Soy's page layouts are always fresh and entertaining. He uses different panel set-ups to help elevate the action happening within the panels. While his art work is good, the way he lays out these pages is even better. This book feels fresh and contemporary. Gandini's colors truly make this book pop. Her color palate for the series is incredibly fitting and gives this book a bit of a lightened tone to off-set some of the darkness the story portrays.
The Bad
From the looks of the second issue, it seems like this series is going to get caught up, at least in the beginning, with lots of introductions for all these Mortal Kombat characters, and while executing a book like this can work in the digital format, it feels like something is missing and there's this fear that every issue is going to follow a formula of introducing characters in this world and connecting them to the overarching story.
The Verdict
The second issue of MORTAL KOMBAT X didn't have the same one-two-punch of the first issue, but it still was a great read. There's great moments of action and horror as Kittelsen, Soy, and Gandini take the reader on a journey through the vast world of Mortal Kombat. This is a good series for anyone to jump on as you don't need to know much about this franchise to enjoy this series. Do you know Scorpion, Sub-Zero, and Raiden exist? Then you'll be fine. MORTAL KOMBAT X continues to entertain and it looks like DC picked up a franchise and has a hit on their hands.
Note: MORTAL KOMBAT X is not available on the DC app because they don't allow mature books on there (although you can pick up WATCHMEN, which somehow has a T+ rating). You can still get this book on Comixology, Amazon, Google Play, and iBooks.