US Male Issues 2

When I was last talking about US Male I had just finished going over the "origin" issue. It left me with many more questions than it answered. I checked my watch and there was plenty of time so I pulled out from a shelf two portfolios labled 2 and 3.

The first thing I noticed is that while the art wasn't any better, the presentation was. The paper was a little better quality and so was the ink. I can only guess that the artist was enthused about his creation and splurged on better supplies.

The second episode started where the last ended. Our hero now the messenger of freedom returns to his apartment in the middle of the city. Honestly, he doesn't know what to do with the powers given to him. As he goes home he sees a couple of thugs pounding a guy in an alley. He recognizes the poor sap as Rodger, someone who always gave him a hard time. Here is our first hero check, he could let the thugs beat the guy who mocked him. But, of course, our hero is made of better stuff. Activating his new abilities he enters the alley as US Male. He beats the living snot out of the thugs and uses his pouch to produce marbles to make them fall at a crucial moment.

After taking care of the thugs he goes to the nearly unconscious Rodger. I say nearly because Rodger reveals two things. First, he was aware enough to see that John turned into US Male, and he's eternally grateful and will never pick on John or anyone else ever again. Second, US has to get to the head thug's base soon or else Rodger's sister will get even worse.

Being that the headquarters is across town and that He has less than 25 minutes to be US Male, our hero is at first stymied. Then he remembers the cryptic things Hermes told him in the first issue. "You will be able to travel as messages travel" (Not actually what he said first issue, but we'll give the artist a break here.) John goes to the nearest mail box and then "POOF" he's automatically across town at the another mail box. "If only first class was as fast," he muses.

The rest of the episode shows him beating up thugs left and right. The art here is a little better, but only a little. There's definitely still a problem with framing the figures. More important though, the character is growing. He's learning about his powers and gained a new friend in fight to deliver the message of freedom to the world. The issue ends with the warning that next issue it will be US Male versus the evil Dr. Clay. I find myself excited to see what will happen next.