Why are we still on this fucking ship? I don’t know, but we’ve spent two issues on this ship and none of it has been worth it or given the impression that there’s a bigger story at play. There’s really no narrative and no direction for our main character making this series feel entirely different from the first volume. We start off with a jealous pirate. He wants to bang Ara apparently, but feels that the Captain is using his position to get into her pants. Too bad he can’t because she sees through all his bullshit. The Captain is an annoying character because he talks to much and after we see his backstory it’s hard to understand how he got to where he is today. Mermaids attack the ship… Ara does most of the work. Supposedly we’re landing next issue. Yay.
At one point the Captain, whose name I chose to forget because he’s a one-dimensional character, says something to invoke the response of Ara about whether she needs to be saved or not. She says, “Do I look like someone that needs to be saved?” The answer is supposed to be “no”, but apparently she was just floating in the water ready to die and technically the Captain has saved her two other times since. Granted Ara seems to be the only one that does any actual fighting when it happens and it’s convenient that she’s always ganged up on, but yeah it does look like she needs saving.
That’s what disappoints me about the writing. She’s not actually a strong female character. She’s a physically strong female character, but when you get down to it I do think she needs saving because she’s never shown us that she can stand on her own and finish her fights. JT Krul continues to weaken his own main character by trying to make the fuckhead Captain look cool. News flash, your Captain is just like every other thief pirate stereotypical character ever created and he sucks at it. I could care less if this guy talks and actually would prefer him not to because he sucks.
The art is still the best part of the series, but it feels limited to the story. V Ken Marion is a talented visual storyteller, but here he’s being forced to meticulously follow the script. It’s evident in the fact that we’re being told and shown the same thing. The only time it manages to be on its own and tell a story is during the Captain’s flashback in which the narration doesn’t lineup with the imagery which is intentional to show that the Captain is a liar. The art is really good and so is the coloring, but it’s not nearly enough to save this story.
There’s absolutely no point in reading this issue. The overall plot to the series has yet to be revealed after two issues and we’re spending a lot of time with characters that are clearly just here for the series and soon to be gone. I love the artwork. I love the world from the first volume, but this second volume feels like a cash grab based on the first volume’s success. I just wish I knew what the point of this series was. The first volume was about freeing Ara’s mother, getting revenge and figuring out how to deal with being a genie. The second volume seems to be about Ara on a boat fighting off sexual advances and killing monsters when they conveniently show up… I can’t imagine that the next two issues are going to turn this ship around so I’ll leave it dead in the water. Wait, here’s another boat pun, abandon ship.
Score: 2/5
Jirni Vol. 2 #2 Writer: JT Krul Artist: V. Ken Marion Publisher: Aspen Comics Price: $3.99 Release Date: 9/16/15 Format: Mini-Series; Print/Digital