Advance Review: It All Starts And Stops With Benjamin Morse In `August: Purgatory Underground’ #2

There’s having creative control over a project, and then there’s Benjamin Morse.

Morse is not only writing and drawing the August: Purgatory Underground series, but he is also coloring and lettering each of the four books from Red 5 Comics. Clearly he has the vision and the confidence to deliver exactly what he set out to create. It’s a monumental task – and one that largely pays off.

Morse’s drawing style favors skin-tight suits and lots of hero shots of the good guys. The bad guys are largely anonymous, save for the big bad – a surprise antagonist who shows up from an earlier series. It’s classic comic book – comic strip even – stuff, full of action, excitement and adventure. While the coloring is pretty standard fare for comic books, the lettering does occasionally stand out – which is not something that most readers will notice, unless there is a problem.

The script for this second installment in the miniseries, while good, takes some questionable turns. This issue focuses more on Captain Abraham August’s plan to rescue some miners forced into slaver by the evil rebels. Although in the last issue, Morse painstakingly introduced us to a whole team that could assist August, the captain takes only the sheriff with him. Then he confesses the mission has only a 50-50 chance of success. And yet, when it comes time for fighting, the two-man team has an easy go of it.

The premier issue ended with the team making plans to rescue the minors, but it wasn’t much of a cliffhanger. Morse has corrected that for his second installment by leaving August in the middle of touch battle against a seemingly unbeatable enemy from his past. That is a considerable improvement – and should keep readers coming back for more.

August: Purgatory Underground #2 will be available for purchase on September 21, 2022.