Green Wake #2: REVIEW
Green Wake #2
Written by: Kurtis Wiebe
Artwork by: Riley Rossmo
Publisher: Image Comics
Publication Date: May 04, 2011
List Price: $3.50
Rating: 
At the risk of sounding trite or cliché, Green Wake #2 is one of the most recent experiences I have felt that approximate being led deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole. Writer Kurtis Wiebe continues to lead the reader on a journey deeper and deeper into the depths of the moody and atmospheric world of Green Wake.
The hardboiled detective elements work the best, in my opinion. The interplay between the driven Morley and his strongman sidekick, with a peculiar resemblance to a toad, Krieger drives the central narrative and seems to have the stronger focus this issue compared to last month’s introduction.
While the protagonist of this book is ostensibly the newly arrived Carl, his struggle seems to be less compelling, perhaps a bit of a storytelling snafu considering his purpose is that of the focal character, providing the reader with a readily identifiable narrator. But, it seems that role is exactly his detriment. A series of narration boxes ran throughout the first issue and return for this second installment. However, it is somewhat unclear who these thoughts and feeling belong to as they often are laid over sequences, along with having shifting letter fonts, that would suggest to the reader that the characters in the panel are providing the narration. Furthermore, Carl’s role as the ostensible narrator is a bit overwrought, contrasting heavily with his fish out of water interactions.
Still, these shortfalls are more than made up for by the brooding, Gothic-like art of Riley Rossmo who is perhaps more responsible for the surreal, foreboding tone than Wiebe. While there are some instances where the flow of dialogue in certain panels is off, this is simply a speed bump in a comic rife with strangeness and supernatural tension.
At this point, it is hard to exactly sort out the where and why of Green Wake but the lingering mystery is certainly made more than digestible by Rossmo’s spectacular art.
