John Wick issue #2 doubles down on the action of the series’ debut issue but also goes a long way in adding some extra depth to the character showing off just how smart Wick actually is, rather than just being an ace shot. The issue mainly revolves around Wicks personal vendetta from the last issue but unfortunately doesn’t take the wider story anywhere. Oh, and like last time this issue is full to the brim of callbacks and nods to the movies.
This Review Will Contain Spoilers.
Plot
John Wick issue #2, written by Greg Pak with artwork from Giovanni Valletta, David Curiel and, Tom Napolitano picks up straight after issue #1’s conclusion. It was a really cool moment when John is first introduced to the Continental El Paso by Charon with his unimpressed response saying it all. Their friendship is built up yet again here and I really enjoyed it. It was also pretty sweet seeing the Continental again when John has the ground rules explained to him. The issue then takes a jarring turn when, Maria, the “big bad” of the last issue, so to speak, just turns up out of nowhere for a drink. I’ll admit that seeing Charon lay down the rules and put everyone in their place was pretty cool, and rather funny, but I expected John and Maria’s confrontation to be much bigger. It felt a little underwhelming, not helped by the fact that the second half of the issue takes a completely different turn. John explains he isn’t working, but simply a “freelancer” before he goes off to…well do some freelancing.
John moves to track down Pecos’ old business partners Buffalo and Billy, and after using Pecos’ phone tricks the pair of them into turning on each other. I really loved how John used them against each other to help even the odds when he was so obviously outnumbered. It just adds a bit more to his character rather than being someone who shots and stabs EVERYTHING. We get another look at John’s past, which shows both Billy and Buffalo helping Pecos with his massacre in Mexico. Once again it works as John Wicks motivation but it did feel cheap to make them virtually the same as Pecos. Wick gets to work turning Billy’s and Buffalo’s men of each other, but not before he dishes out a little treat to a nearby cat. You’ve got to love his commitment to helping animals. The ensuing action is, predictably epic in scale, with Billy and Buffalo finally teaming up to try and take Wick out, with no success.
The issue rounds out with Billy and Buffalo running for their lives whilst John follows, walking away from an explosion like the action movie badass he is. Whilst the action is stellar once again, and I still think writer Greg Pak has nailed the character of John Wick I continue to feel underwhelmed by the issue’s story. I wanted to see more done with Maria and John and frankly, Billy and Buffalo feel pretty much the same as Pecos did with no real persoanlity given to them.
Characters
Like I said they have absolutely nailed John wicks character yet again here. A man of few words, who remains cold and calculated throughout. His darker side begins to shine through when the action starts and his interactions at the start with Charon felt great. With the issue’s lackluster story, the faithful rendition of Wick, as well as the action, keeps the series afloat. Charon, unfortunately, doesn’t get any action in issue 2, but like Wick, feels like an extremely accurate representation of the character. He stole the scenes he had with Wick, after putting both him and Maria in their places but didn’t have much to do after that.
Maria is still a dark horse. We haven’t seen a lot of her, and she did very little in this issue but she still has some great potential. She was willing to conduct business on Continental grounds which suggest she doesn’t play around and she has the potential to be a really interesting villain for Wick but she isn’t quite there yet.
As for this issue’s actual villains, like I said they are incredibly underwhelming. Billy and Buffalo feel extremely generic, with the exact same backstory as Pecos from issue #1. We’ll be seeing more of them next issue, but I can’t say I’m excited about it.
Artwork
Once again this issue’s incredible artwork goes a long way to help the story along. The action is insane, looking like its jumped straight off the screen and onto the page. I also appreciate just how great characters like John and Charon look. They captured the actors beautifully here.
There is, similarly to issue #1, plenty to enjoy here such as the epic action and pretty much everything about John himself, but it once again feels like a huge missed opportunity. They play it safe with Bill and Buffalo making them boring characters and are yet to actually do anything with Maria and John. hopefully, issue #3 will move into that space more and bring the storytelling up to the same standard as the action.
