In this dual review two writers (in this case Kimberly and Neil) will take a look at the issue and give a score of: Buy, Borrow or Pass. Before we begin here’s what the issue is about from Image Comics: Two dead cablers. Two MCPD murder police. One of them is an FGU. One vic leads to Midway City Hall. The other leads into the cables of SOLAR 1. The LT is furious. I-SEEC won’t help them. But the ME can.

Kimberly: BORROW

With this issue we are really getting into the nitty-gritty. We start right away at the crime scene and it seems our two detectives are already butting-heads, when trying to solve this murder mystery.

In the past review, I mentioned I really like that this was kind of a cross-between sci-fi and CSI but now it’s starting to feel like besides the occasional joke about being on “Fuse,” there’s not a whole lot of sci-fi in it. Maybe things will get stranger as the series goes on. That’s not to say I didn’t like it; I am digging the corrupt political agenda that seems to be brewing. I just hope that it doesn’t lose its edge with another half-assed crime plot. We’ll see what happens with the next issue.

I’ll give Antony Johnston kudos for his writing; it’s a difficult task to bring in this much information without losing the reader in overcomplicated plot and dialogue.

Neil: BORROW

In issue two of The Fuse we are just starting to get into the meat of the mystery, but it is also the part of the story were I lose a bit of interest because the formula is very straight forward. This is the part of the story where a lot of collecting of information about the victim happens and it also tries to explain what purpose was there to kill the victim. What I like about this issue is how Deitrich and Ristovych go about gathering their facts the go old school, in their fact-finding and it shows what a great team they make even though they think they are not good for each other. It also made the process of gathering information enjoyable, which sometimes can be very dry on crime stories.

One thing that I wasn’t a big fan of in this issue was the use of the political angle. It just takes a different tone and it limits what the outcome might be when you bring up the government into the mystery.  At this point, it felt like I was reading The Killing rather than The Fuse, and I didn’t finish watching The Killing because it got boring. I hope this book doesn’t take that turn.

The artwork in the book I found to be just as good as the first issue; great use of the colors and the artwork is very consistent.  Overall, I saw this second issue of The Fuse to be very typical to what you expect in a lot of crime books, a lot of dialogue and fact-finding into who could be the potential murderer with a bit of cliffhanger heading into the next part of the story.

Score: Borrow

Writer: Antony Johnston Artist: Justin Greenwood Publisher: Image Comics Price: $3.50 Release Date: 3/19/14