Z-Men is funny, but Home is hilarious. This is the series that stars the perfect family and their foul mouthed vulgar daughter. She’s also pretty fucking mean, but I enjoy every bit of dialogue from here. This is also the second book to kind of break the reality of the era, but it’s so funny that it doesn’t really matter. Last time, the perfect family’s perfect son was bit by a zombie. This issue the family decides to take him to the local doctor to have him checked out. The daughter swears and curses at her brother the entire time. Telling him to walk it off and to stop being a baby. It’s great. There’s also a bit of a twist to this part of the story, but I’m not going to spoil that for you because it’s accompanied by a great line from the daughter.
The other side of the story is our two teens looking to make love. They’re interrupted again, this time by the creepy neighbor boy who poaches a deer on the family’s property. There’s a reveal to this part of the story as well and I’m curious to see how it will play out next time. Tragedy might be around the corner in the next issue of Home.
Aside from the humor, it’s the sense of dread that this story is building. The perfect family can’t remain perfect in this scenario… or can they? That’s kind of why I’m reading it. There’s going to be something more than just this family. Their dynamic is sure to change or at the very least they’re going to be put through the grinder. In the meantime, I’m enjoying how pure they’re continuing to be.
The art fits the story. It’s clean looking and there’s some improvement as well. A lot of the Double Take books just look better this go around. There’s more details in the panels, there’s better coloring and overall it looks like a well-polished product. That’s true for Home which has marked improvements on the characters’ details.
Since I haven’t mentioned it for a few reviews I’m going to point out the great Mike Allred’s Mad Man recap style the each of Double Take’s second issues contains. It’s three pages of thumbnails showing the entire first issue minus dialogue and such. It’s a clever way to show the entire issue and get someone caught up. You really could piece together what you missed and jump in on this issue.
This story is slow moving, probably the slowest compared to the rest of the Double Take titles, but it works. There’s only a couple of major things in this issue, but that’s all it needs. The rest is filled with humor and a never ending possible sexual encounter that always seems to be interrupted. It’s not perfect, but I’m enjoying it a lot.
Score: 3/5
Home #2 – Thicker Than Water Story: Michael Coast, Julian Rowe, Bill Jemas Script: Michael Coast Layouts: Julian Rowe, Orissa Jenkins Pencils: Francis Nuguit Publisher: Double Take Comics Price: $2.50 Release Date: 11/11/15 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital