Advance Review — ‘The Eye Collector’ #2 Is A Sight To Behold

There’s weird, and then there’s The Eye Collector.

Weird, of course, isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But when a story is weird and impenetrable, it’s tough to read. What exactly is going on in this second issue?

The creators would have you believe it’s the start of a new story arc. The publisher’s marketers inform that a young boy’s parents sell their kid’s eyes to make their dreams come true. None of that is clear after reading this issue.

Writers Jonathan Ball and GMB Chomichuk do give us a boy, Nathan, who is visited in his dreams by the Eye Collector. Why? Who knows. His parents are acting strangely. Why? Who knows. He meets a little girl named Clara who takes him to an elaborate treehouse. Why? Who knows. You get the point. Or maybe not.

Weird is fine. The unexplained is fine. But it all needs a point. As up until now, at least, there doesn’t seem to be one. Hopefully that will change soon.

In the meantime, we have Chomichuk’s illustrations. They aren’t as eye-catching (See what I did there?) as in the premiere issue, but they are still impressive. He captures Nathan’s innocence as well as Mom and Dad’s creepiness, to say nothing of the Collector itself. He also sneakily adds eye into several places where they aren’t expected: a coffee cup, a transom, and even onto wallpaper.

Will all of this be explained at some point soon? Maybe. Perhaps Ball and Chomichuk will somehow tie everything together, and it will all make perfect sense and be considered a modern classic. Or perhaps more likely, the creative team will wallow in the weird and leave its readers to marvel at the pretty pictures.

The Eye Collector #2 — written by Jonathan Ball and GMB Chomichuk, illustrated by Chomichuk, and lettered by Lyndon Radchenka — will be available Wednesday in comic book stores and on digital platforms from Image Comics.