Comics Korner: October Faction #2

October Faction #2 gives fans much of the same, minus the petty angst-ridden revenge.

October Faction #1 didn’t do much to reach outside the norm when it came to the creature feature aspect of the story, and #2 has the same problem of depending heavily on the conventional monsters that it ironically called out in the first volume for being too mainstream. Regardless, the art gives the monsters a wholly unique appearance, despite them being the obvious (ghosts, vampires, and werewolves oh my!). The best aspect of the volume is undoubtedly the scenes between Fredrick and his two children. These interactions are clever in both their strangeness as well as their familiarity. Fredrick treats his children like real people treat their kids (at that age). He cares for them and disciplines them but he never underestimates them or really trusts them completely.  It’s been done before of course, but the nature of the world they live in does add an interesting twist on the typical “rebellious children” trope. The art also uses a different palette in each scene, that fits the mood of the events, but can sometimes be too dark to actually see. At some points, I just gave up trying to tell what was happening in the panel, and relied on context clues to figure it out later in the story. There’s a multifaceted plot that’s happening in October Faction, and #2 gives it it’s first real forward momentum, but it’s nowhere near as interesting as the interactions between the Allen family, which are filled with all the supernatural exposition that’s necessary to sell this kind of story, but also a dynamic that’s organic, despite it’s nonchalant attitude, and entertaining. At this point, I can’t tell exactly what October Faction is supposed to actually be about (The family or the supernatural world they live in), but I have to hope it’s the family with how weirdly entertaining and surprisingly dynamic they have the potential to be.