By Ashley Gibbs

The first issue of Clue left two players dead, and Clue #2 promises to add to the body count. With a cast of colorful characters trapped in a large mansion full of secrets and numerous items that can be used as weapons, this dark and stormy night might prove lethal for everyone involved. Based on the beloved game of the same name, this series is witty and fun while also having plenty of mystery to it. Readers are in the dark of the true motives of everyone involved adding to the suspense though the only character who knows everything, Mr. Boddy, is unfortunately dead so it’s up to the guests to get to the bottom of everything along with readers.

The board game never gave much plot or backstory to who the guests were or why they were invited to the mansion, though the movie version did create some. While this series doesn’t follow that story, it does have one thing in common; Mr. Boddy has files on all of the guests there. These files are kept in “The Blackmail Room,” a name Mr. Boddy picked himself as mentioned by the butler and hidden away behind a secret passage. The detectives on the case are busy finding this evidence and interrogating suspects while the guests are busy being rather annoying. Professor Plum gets most of the character building this issue, all of it rather interesting to read. But overall I don’t have any connections with the characters, which might be just as well since people keep dying. I’m highly interested in what material Mr. Boddy had for blackmail on the guests and hope we find out even more. The comedy in the series is good but I’m always a sucker for a good mystery.

I enjoyed the artwork this issue. While the backgrounds were a bit drab I found the characters being held in color coded rooms highly amusing. Also, the drab interior helps focus on the issues at hand, and probably relates to Mr. Boddy being a man no one knows about. His mansion is just as empty as his past at the moment. Things are also rather large compared to the characters, not chairs and such but again the mansion itself. Everything around these characters is a prison and perhaps deadly, the empty dreary house emphasizes this fact. Aside from this, there are great facial expressions and use of colors and panel placement in this issue as well.

As the plot thickens in Clue #2, my interest in this series grows. I want to know why Mr. Boddy has a room filled with blackmail material. I need to know who Mr. Boddy was. I need to know more about all the characters as well. Despite the fact that some of them are downright annoying, they’re all hiding secrets and secrets make things interesting. Despite the story being about murder and other devious deeds, the story remains funny and event at some moments lighthearted. I think I liked this issue more than the first one and expect each installment will be better than the last.

Score: 4/5

Clue #2
Writers: Paul Allor
Artists: Nelson Daniel
Letters: Neil Uyetake
Publisher: IDW