Boy Zero: Volume Two [Part Two] - Caliber Comics

BOY ZERO: VOLUME TWO, May 2016

Having apparently unmasked and arrested the mysterious mass-murdering, child-killer in this graphic novel’s preceding chapter, many readers of “Concrete Animals” may well have been wondering what Detective Drekker would be doing for the next twenty-six pages of “Boy Zero: Volume Two”. Yet whilst this particular instalment is somewhat more sedentary than that experienced when the policeman was busy fighting for his life against a knife-wielding homicidal maniac, Charles Chester still manages to imbue this comic’s narrative was some genuinely pulse-pounding moments, and once again rather cleverly catches the perusing bibliophile off-guard.

For starters, a “downtrodden” Nigel finally seems to stumble upon a link between the understandably troubled Christian and “that woman from the paper, the author.” This connection is superbly penned, and is so nonchalantly dropped into a lengthy, late night conversation over a hot cuppa between the overweight investigator and Susan, that it would probably have been entirely missed amidst the discussion’s word-heavy dialogue, if not for the lawman’s astonished facial expression at hearing the news…

Cue a trip to a local bookshop and an overly helpful store-worker who impractically offers to recommend “a few others here… over that one”, and Drekker’s ‘game is most definitely afoot’ once again. Indeed, the rotund detective’s excessively aggressive response to temporarily being inundated with other novels by Joan Hagen over “Monster”, is probably one of the best moments in this entire publication, as his sudden burst of angry energy probably startled not just the store clerk, but doubtless a few within this graphic novel’s audience as well; “Just shut the f*%k up! I’ll take this one!”

Adding plenty of additional atmosphere, as well as a swelling sense of unstoppable insanity, are Shiloh Penfield’s highly disturbing panels. The “guest artist… on Red Knight published by Dead West Comics and multiple independent projects” provides plenty of visual treats to the observant, with her veritable menagerie of assorted dogs, stoats and budgerigars randomly released from Mister Stevens’ Glass City pet shop proving especially amusing. Indeed, the illustrator’s attention to detail, especially when pencilling eyes, is utterly unnerving, so when this tome’s tension begins to ‘ramp up’ it is hard not to be immediately drawn to the expressionate faces of this comic’s numerous characters.

Written by: Charles Chester, and Artwork by: Shiloh Penfield