Review: Voodoo Vol. 2- The Killer in Me

Quick Summary

Pros: The main narrative is better than it was in the last volume and is compelling at points. The artwork continues to look good.

Cons: The main narrative still has problems and often ends up feeling rushed. The rushed nature of the comic leads to a lackluster conclusion. There are points, throughout the read, where decisions feel random or illogical.

Overall: Though better than its predecessor, this is still a troubled comic book that gives this series a troubled conclusion. There are definitely improvements found throughout the narrative and the artwork continues to look great. However, problems with pacing, weird character decisions, and a poor conclusion prevent this volume from saving this series. Readers who really enjoyed the previous volume and want to see how it ends may enjoy pieces of this collection but most readers may just want to pass on this entire series.

Story

Voodoo Vol. 2: The Killer in Me, by Joshua Williamson, improves on some of its predecessor’s many problems but still has enough of its own to prevent it from being a good volume. As far as improvements go, this volume ditches the previous volume’s intense focus on sexualization and, thus, avoids many of the problems associated with it. This allows it to focus on the main mystery of the series, which is somewhat compelling. However, the time it takes to make this switch combined with the short length of this comic cause many sections to feel very rushed and cause the conclusion to be unsatisfying. Plus, much of the narrative ends up feeling forced, making characters do illogical things just to push the plot forward. In the end, this is a better volume than the one before it but is not nearly good enough to save this series.

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The main point of improvement in The Killer in Me comes from this volume’s ability to expand upon the most significant narrative positive from the previous volume, the mystery behind Voodoo’s past. This collection explains the connection between Voodoo and her clone and uses this to set the stage for a battle between the two. Watching this play out and wondering where it will go ends up being the bulk of the entertainment in this collection.

In addition, The Killer in Me almost immediately sets Voodoo as the comic’s main villain, instead of a hero. Voodoo’s actions in the previous volume would have made it almost impossible for her to be a redeemable villain, which is where it seemed like the narrative was going. Turning her into a villain does not erase the problems of the past but it does help minimize the damage done by their impact.

Unfortunately, this narrative across the volume is still pretty weak. The volume starts by making the changes mentioned above, which takes a few chapters. Then, the volume is only left with a few chapters to start and end the next and final story arc. It makes the whole adventure feel rushed, especially the conclusion. This makes for a poor reading experience with a pretty unsatisfying ending.

In addition, the narrative often feels too random and illogical. Instead of having the characters make decisions that feel true to what they are going through, it feels like most character decisions are made simply to advance the plot in the easiest way possible. Voodoo’s change barely feels justified, especially since she doesn’t end up following through with what made her change her mind; the conflict aboard the spaceship seems completely out of place for professional soldiers, and feels like it was one done to create a tense crash-landing; and the Daemonites’ decision to turn on Voodoo came off strange, since they were just willing to support people they thought were allied with Voodoo. All of this makes it feel like the series is flying by the seat of its pants, instead of something well-thought out and logical.

(spoilers end here)

Art

The only consistent positive across The Killer in Me is the volume’s artwork. Sami Basri’s visuals were a highlight in the previous collection and continue to look great here. Basri’s clean approach allows the characters and their actions to stand out, which make the fight scenes more visually appealing. The page layouts help with this as well, directing the reader’s eye where it needs to go and allowing the story to flow. All of this is also, once again, complemented by Jessica Kholinne’s colors, which suit the tone of this book very well. 

Continuity

Voodoo Vol. 2: The Killer in Me continues the story from Voodoo Vol. 1: What Lies Beneath (Review).

The Voodoo series ends with this volume. A plot point from Voodoo #0 is somewhat continued in Grifter #13, collected in Grifter Vol. 2: Newfound Power (Review) but the story from this series mostly ends with this volume.

This volume also references other comic books, detailed below:

• Andrew Lincoln faked his death in Blackhawks #8, collected in Blackhawks Vol. 1: The Great Leap Forward.
• Helspont faced off against Superman in Superman #7-8, collected in Superman Vol. 2: Secrets & Lies (Review).