Wild’s End #2: Never Look Into The Light

Wild’s End #2 picks up with the crew of the Merry Beet investigating the missing townspeople. Other than the disappeared town, there are other mysteries afoot, such as the burned outline of a missing person and newspapers reporting on mysterious meteor showers. As the issue unfolds, the mystery starts to unravel; however, fans of the original Wild’s End (2014) series are likely already queued into everything. This is where the first problem with this book arises; everything happening here will only be a mystery for a handful of readers.

To get the elephant out of the room, yes, there is an alien invasion, and the Merry Beet crew are rediscovering this mystery already explored in the 2014 series. Upon reading the first issue, it seemed like Abnett and Culbard would approach this concept from a different angle, like Fear The Walking Dead was an ancillary spin-off of the original The Walking Dead TV show. But, instead, readers are treated to what seems like just a retreading of past concepts that were already explored almost ten years ago, granted, this is only the second issue of the miniseries. Regardless, it feels like a lot of this issue is dedicated to characters exploring and uncovering concepts that are supposed to come off as shock value but instead are just a reminder of what everyone already knows is going on. The horror franchise has popularized this formula a lot over the years. Still, the main gripe comes from this series being titled the same as its predecessor, keying into the idea that this is just a continuation when it is just retreading old plot points. 

Gripes aside, Abnett continues to deliver on the fantastic character work, with all these characters feeling fully realized after two issues. This makes the shocking death at the end of the issue feel impactful, raising the stakes for this new band of protagonists. If this issue had focused more on interpersonal relationships than uncovering the already established mystery, it would more easily justify its status as a pseudo-spin-off/sequel. Regardless, Abnett’s excellent attention to detail justifies this book’s existence purely off of the characters alone, with this issue leaving off on a cliffhanger that makes Wild’s End #3 a must-read for fans.

Culbard continues to deliver with excellent pencils, colors, and letters, establishing a well-detailed and fully realized anthropomorphic universe. Culbard infuses plenty of character into each drawing, genuinely humanizing each segment. There is a fantastic level of detail, making it easy to forget that these characters are various animals. A less experienced creator would fall into the common trappings of this concept. Still, Culbard stays true to the original concept and uses the different animal bases to subtly help convey base personality traits without beating the reader over the head. The subtleness and nuance here are outstanding, with Culbard letting the art tell the story rather than vice-versa.