Review: ‘Corpse Knight’ #2 Gets Caught Up In Its Own Side Quests

Most stories – even limited comics series – have multiple plot points. Sure, the creative team is going to regale you with adventures from the main or A-story. But to flesh things out a bit more, they’ll add a B-story or two. You can think of them as side quests.

Corpse Knight #2 is filled with these side quests. Now that Foy’s dad has been killed and reborn as her zombie protector in medieval France, writer Michael Chaves tries to spice things up a bit by adding in a haunted forest, some equally haunted wolves, another child, and the story’s big bad.

It’s a lot for one issue.

Worse, at least some of it feels unnecessary for where the story has to be heading. Chaves has Foy and her corpse knight seeking out Joan of Arc in order to turn dad human again. That seems like a pretty difficult primary task by itself.

Do we really want to give Foy a kid companion as well? Sure, it makes her more relatable, but one kid is more than enough in this story. Add in a Hansel and Gretel-like witch, and this interesting story starts to feel a little too familiar.

At least artist Matthew Roberts gives Foy an innocent look — as opposed to her undead dad who looks like Jonah Hex went 12 rounds with Muhammad Ali. Dad goes through a lot in this issue, and Roberts demonstrates the toll it’s taken on him, even though we’re deprived of his actual vengeance.

Zombie stories are ubiquitous these days, so it can be difficult to tell one that doesn’t feel rehashed. Corpse Knight started out that way, but when the B-stories start to interfere with the main tale, it’s time to streamline the writing and focus on what matters.

Corpse Knight #2 — written by Michael Chaves, illustrated by Matthew Roberts, and colored by Rico Renzi — is now available in comic book stores and on digital platforms from Image Comics.