Phantom Road #2: Spinnin’ Wheels

The control of information in a mystery is a difficult highway to drive, requiring constant maneuvering to ensure the story stays in line with the ethos of the puzzle while delivering enough to keep the audience engaged. Taking an eye off either the painted lanes or the view along the horizon leads to swerving into boring exposition or unnecessary details. The first instance is where the second issue of Phantom Road finds itself, wobbling across lanes while speeding past explanations of the world established in its opening. 

Phantom Road #2 – written by Jeff Lemire with art from Gabriel H. Walta, colors by Jordie Bellaire, and letters and design work from Steve Wands – hits the road as Dom and Birdie try to figure out where they are and what’s happening after last issue’s ending. The duo keeps driving until they come across a truck stop that seems to repel the odd creatures throughout this desert and offers a window to the real world in its reflection. Here the duo comes face to face with the man in the Hawaiian shirt from the bathroom of issue #1.

The man offers some information about this world, which runs parallel to Dom and Birdie’s but intersects at certain points like the truck stop. Other than that, he explains that the weird rock is now the cargo that the two must deliver east, to a place called Golgotha. In the bible, Golgotha is a skull-shaped hill that became the place where Jesus was crucified. The strange man explains that this isn’t the same place, but the Bible took the name from the destination. 

Birdie splits after learning all of this, not believing any of it and tries to flee what she thinks is hell. Once she exits the diner with Dom close behind, the duo returns to the real world. As Birdie gets further away, she becomes racked with pain and begins to pass out before Dom finds her. Something similar happened to him, but the pain subsides when in proximity to the truck/artifact. Before the two can do anything else, they’re then forced to destroy another one of the creatures. This time, however, they realize it’s shifted to the form of a human and the cops appear in the distance, setting up a possible chase for the next issue.  

Lemire’s script for this issue is sparse like the wasteland that Dom and Birdie find themselves in, working to set the tone and establish rules of this delivery with only the barest of character moments. It’s an attempt to prioritize mystery and exposition over specifics and makes the issue a slog to read through. After the last issue, which struck a strong balance between the mystery and character, this installment buckles under the weight of the hanging questions. 

Much of the frustration comes from the mystery man, who offers little information and serves no purpose other than to give exposition to the duo. Nothing grounds the character or makes him interesting, but the amount of time and focus given to him signals that he is important and maybe a recurring player in the larger story. He doesn’t need to be fleshed out all at once, but a hook beyond being a mysterious man in a bright shirt would go a long way to make him a more compelling figure. 

Walta’s art takes a similar approach in this issue, being more conservative in the layouts and compositions, never delivering a panel or image nearly as strong as Dom in the windshield of the last issue. Instead, everything feels like straightforward delivery from point A to B on the page. The story is never lacking and clarity is still consistent, but it becomes apparent a spark is lacking in this issue. Even the monsters feel underwhelming in this issue, the dread of them swarming from the previous issue is unmatched by the attacks in this installment. 

The only real standout moment for the art is towards the end of the issue, once Dom has killed the creature and it reverts to a human form. The expression of carnage and death, illuminated by the truck’s headlights is a stark image that humanizes the creatures from the wasteland. The choice to depict the corpse in a full-page image gives heft to the action and becomes an axis that alters the perspective of Dom and Birdie’s reality. Now that they have crossed the axis, there is doubt about what these things are. 

Bellaire’s coloring renders the horror of this death in perfect detail, employing a stark red against a purplish hue to highlight the lingering effects of the trauma on the body. Clashing with the light that evokes the yellowish whites of the wasteland, the page contrasts the possible realities that Dom and Birdie find themselves trapped between. It’s an effective way to highlight the result of violence and tease the subjective experience the duo has gone through.