I absolutely adore this comic. Usually I hate comics with an agenda. Yes I know every story whether it's film, book, comic, TV etc. all try to make you think or feel a particular way. What I mean is I hate it when the writer tries to shove it down your throat, "You will feel the way I want you to damn it." That is why I absolutely love this book, the story is the main point and the subtext is exactly that, undertone that is not explicitly forced upon the reader. With that said, if the story sucked the subtext would all be for naught. Thankfully Pierrick Colinet has focused on giving the reader a story that doesn't feel preachy (I wasn't even aware of the subtext in the first issue til I read it in the letter column). The characters are well fleshed out, even the mega-douches come across well (they're only doing their job after all). But the most amazing thing is that after only two issues I genuinely care about the main character (Teddy) and her love interest (Ano).
The art goes a long way to making you care about the story and characters. Firstly the characters a drawn fantastically, Teddy still has the tapered waist but not to a ridiculous degree. She looks like a girl who eats her meals, which is rare in most books. Ano has a more typical gorgeous figure, which is nice to look at but I'm worried it will harm the story (is Teddy only interested in her because she's attractive?). The two macho guys are douche-jocks with Adonis builds, which seems to fit their repulsive personalities which is backed up by the writing.
Second is the panel placement. This book has some unique paneling that really adds to the story. Sometimes when artists get fancy with the panels it confuses the feel and becomes a hard-to-read jumbled mess. Elsa Charretier does a fantastic job of adding elements to the page that add to the story and don't take away from the readability. I also love the decision trees where we get to see all the things that race through Teddy's mind.
Just like last issue this one threw another surprise at me. Last time I didn't expect any subtext. This time I wasn't expecting the nudity (I'm not a prude, I just wasn't expecting it) but it fit the scene well and didn't seem out of place. The placement of Teddy's vibrator (used to show that she is a solitary person) didn't feel obtrusive and went well to humanizing her.
Score: 4/5
The Infinite Loop #2 Writer: Pierrick Colinet Artist and Colorist: Elsa Charretier Publisher: IDW Publishing Price: $3.99 Release Date: 5/27/15 Format: Ongoing, Print/Digital