Resurrectionists is shaping up to be such a mixed bag that it was tricky assigning it a score for this review. On the one hand, the book’s plot is coming along nicely. Characters that I assume will become major players in the story are gradually being introduced and built on, and the mythology that Fred Van Lente has created is interesting and continues to be developed. But on the other hand, the artwork in the book is still inconsistent – so much so that for a page or two of this issue I couldn’t even figure out what was going on. Not only did some panels look unclear, but also in the Ancient Egypt flashback segments, a few of the characters look very similar which doesn’t help matters. Overall this makes for a book that is definitely flawed, but I would say that it is still worth sticking with for at least one or two more issues because there’s a lot of potential on show here. The beginning of this issue focuses on Tao, the Ancient Egyptian architect who is also the past incarnation of modern-day professional thief Jericho Way. A lot of this issue follows him and the band of tomb-robbers he’s fallen in with as they try and navigate their way out of the Mausoleum they’ve trapped themselves in. Unfortunately, it doesn’t make for hugely entertaining reading. Not only are most of the characters that Tao works with entirely undeveloped, but also the way that these characters respond to the pretty grim deaths that occur in this issue is bizarre. They don’t really have a response at all. They just aren’t affected by it and move on to the next horrible death unphased. It’s just a little thing that makes these already flimsy characters seem even less human.

Additionally, it is in this section of the issue that the art problems I mentioned at the beginning of this review come into play, making this segment of the comic feel overall quite weak.

However that being said I don’t want to be entirely negative about these flashback sections of the book. I like how both this part of the book and its modern day section are both equally important in developing the overarching plot of the series. Fred Van Lente is balancing both parts of his story very well. Not only do both main characters get a more or less equal amount of time in the spotlight, but also there are plenty of clever reveals in both segments.

Plus, I don’t want to be too harsh on artist Maurizio Rosenzweig. While his artwork isn’t always up to scratch, he does produce some nice panels and pages in this issue. It’s just a shame he can’t keep this up all the time.

The modern day section following Jericho Way is the strongest half of this issue, as there are less art hiccups and quite a few fun moments. I’m enjoying seeing Way piece together what’s going on, and the way that this issue finished has set things up well for the third issue which should be an exciting culmination of events so far. I do think Van Lente could tighten up his dialogue a little, as in some places it’s a bit too expository, and in others it just doesn’t feel very real. However, this criticism doesn’t take away from the issue too much, it’s just a minor flaw that will hopefully straighten itself out as the writer gets more of a grasp on his characters.

In the end, Resurrectionists #2 undoubtedly has some flaws. The art isn’t always strong, some of the characters are still a little weak, and the dialogue could use some tweaking here and there. However, I don’t think you should give up on this series just yet. The overarching story that Fred Van Lente is telling shows a lot of promise, and the way that this issue ends has left me very much looking forward to the next chapter. If you enjoyed or were on the fence about the first issue of this series, you should pick up this second instalment and give it a go. In spite of its flaws, there’s definitely still fun to be had from this series.

Score: 3/5

Writer: Fred Van Lente Artist: Maurizio Rosenzweig Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Price: $3.50 Release Date: 12/24/14 Format: Print/Digital