By Dustin Cabeal
More of the world is explained in the second issue of Infinite 7, but I have the feeling we’re still going to be learning about this work for at least another issue. The story jumps ahead from the shocking cliffhanger of the first issue. To put it plainly, our main character Anthony is the new Smash Brannagan having killed the previous one.
While that scene seemed to have some heavy consequences and emotional damage for Anthony, this issue glazes right over that. I’ll admit that was a bit disappointing considering we ended on him crying and scared out of his mind. Now he’s in the secret base and being interrogated about how he killed the former Smash Brannagan (cough, who was his father, cough). From there he’s shown a danger room practice for the other teammates and told that he'd face a similar challenge in three days. He’s to either fight or die to be solidified as the next Smash Brannagan.
The pacing was too fast in this issue. Anthony isn’t developed nearly enough. He’s left moping, and even that is rushed through to get us to him facing off in the not danger room, totally the danger room. The issue with his date is weirdly included, but not concluded which made it seem a bit pointless for the story outside of showing that dead Brannagan’s body had been removed.
It’s a fun issue, but the cliffhanger of the first issue now feels out of place. There was a lot of emotional baggage tied to that scene, which is absent here. It’s made the tone a bit confusing. Is this a carefree story about action hero inspired assassins working for a shadow government running the world or something deeper? I don’t quite know yet.
The art bothered me a bit in this issue. Especially with the slasher movie set up at the beginning which suddenly made the house look run down and creepy. That and there was a lot of details in the background missing. The characters were well illustrated, but the mood and lighting shifted for bright to shadows often and made for a weird mood to the book. Again, is it a dark story or a lighthearted one?
Overall, if you enjoyed the first issue then keep reading. It’s consistent with that reading experience at the very least. If you struggled with the first issue, then there’s nothing here that’s going to change your mind or win you over, but the series does still have some potential. It just needs to stick to a tone.
Score: 3/5
Infinite 7 #2
Writer/Letterer: Dave Dwonch
Artist: Arturo Mesa
Colorist: Geraldo Filho
Publisher: Action Lab, Danger Zone