My last review illuminates all my opinions about Fathom: Blue Descent #2, except that all of the negatives of the comic bother me more now. It is hard for me to review Blue Descent because I am not familiar with the series it spun off from. But this means I can objectively analyze elements of the story and artwork based on their own merit, not built on love for the original piece. But it also means that the story is not filled with as much impact for me because I do not care about these characters. I might argue, however, that it is the writer’s job to make new readers care about these characters from Issue #0. 

Fathom: Blue Descent #2 picks up with Abesaloma chasing after his wife Eilah, who has been kidnapped by one of the Black, a race that the Blues view as gods. Unable to pursue her on his own, Abesaloma goes to Zo and other Blues for help in rescuing his wife. Meanwhile, the Blacks reveal their plan for Eilah. 

Just like the last comic, Fathom: Blue Descent #2 is covered in words. I’ll be honest; I did not read every line. I skimmed it. But I was still able to follow the story so I guess that is a plus. What I did read was well written, lyrical even. But I still found it annoying that the characters were giving monologues half the time. When I read a comic I expect more visual storytelling. 

Speaking of the visuals, one of the major problems I had in both issues was the character design of Abesaloma. He says that he is a “middle-aged councilman” yet he is drawn to look much younger. Maybe the Blue age slower than us humans, who knows? With a majority of characters adorned in black hair it becomes hard to pick each character out. Besides these flaws in character design though, I found the book to be beautifully drawn overall. 

As for the story itself, since I have not read the source material, I do not know what plot twists are revelations for readers of the series and what are not. If the reveals in this issue are reveals for the universe as a whole, then they are rather interesting but predictable. Even without knowing about the future of some of these characters I was able to guess what was to come for Eilah. 

The biggest problem I am having with the Blue Descent series is the fact that I am just not attached to these characters. I have already been told to some extent what happened to them, the how just does not interest me. Again, this may change for readers of Fathom. But even though I know that by reading earlier issues I’d be more connected to the characters and understand more of their world, nothing in the last three books has made me wish to pursue this. I respect the comic for its drawing style and its strong use of language, but the story and world just do not appeal to me.