Minor Threats #2 Review: Chaos Ensues on the Heels of Kid Dusk’s Murder

Minor Threats #2 Review: Chaos Ensues on the Heels of Kid Dusk’s Murder

The first two issues of Dark Horse Comics‘ Minor Threats were excellent! I can’t wait to see this story unfold! The pacing of the story in Minor Threats #2 so far feels pretty good. I love the zany take on metahumans and ridiculous powers such as Pigeon Pete’s ability to listen to birds or The Brain Teasers’ ability to piece together how events played out.

The art style serves up the narrative well with a healthy dose of grit. My favorite thing in the books hands down is the flashbacks in which the coloring and art style change slightly to mimic the look and feel of classic comics on newsprint.

The story follows Playtime, a once villain trying to reform and play it straight in order to mend her relationship with her daughter. All Hell breaks loose when Twilight Cities’ top superhero Insomniac’s sidekick Kid Dusk is murdered. The two seem to be a visual parody of an all-too-famous Dynamic Duo.

The Continuum (Twilight Cities Justice League if you will.) begins to crack down turning the city into a police state for fear of The Insomniac becoming unhinged. This makes life in the underbelly of Twilight City even more difficult. Playtime decides to take matters into her own hands and forms a group of bottom-of-the-barrel villains to hunt down Kid Dusks Killer.

The Ridiculousness of the story is also laced with more serious social issues loosely addressing class, child abuse, and alcoholism to name a few. Issue two tracks the newly formed team’s infiltration of an elite supervillain nightclub in search of Stickman (Kid Dusk’s Murderer). Along the way they drop subtle threads to our colorful character’s pasts that I hope are given more depth in future issues. Scott Hepburn‘s art is great and really brought to life by Ian Herring‘s coloring.

The color seems to adapt and change styles seamlessly according to what is happening in the frame like the moody watercolor style adopted when Brain Teaser uses his powers or the previously mentioned newsprint grain mimicking classic comics during character flashbacks.

I’m interested to see how the overall story arc plays out in this fresh take on a well-played out superhero narrative. I love the idea of the story being told from the nobody villains, we’ve seen and heard superhero and supervillain stories of clashing titans repeatedly.

Minor Threats is a refreshing and promising take from a much less explored perspective, the losers. Patton Oswalt and Jordan Blum have written relatable meta humans each going through their own shit from a custody battle to being haunted by an abusive parent highlighting blemishes on the human spirit that echo reality. Issue two left me hanging on a cliff waiting to get issue three in my hands immediately!

Caleb Braxton

A hermit currently residing in the swampy woodlands of South Carolina. CNA by day artist and family man by night. Fantasy and board game nerd with an affinity for all things illustrated or animated. Resides with his wife, son, and a pack of animals that outnumber the humans in his home.

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Source: Dark Horse