Dollhouse: Epitaphs #2
Story: Andrew Chambliss, Jed Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen
Script: Andrew Chambliss
Pencils: Cliff Richards
Inks: Andy Owens
Colors: Michelle Madsen
Summary
As the issue opens, we see the Wielder’s efforts come to fruition as the remote imprint is now being broadcast over the air (when they it had previously been restricted to the phone lines), effectively turning any radio within range into a weapon of mass destruction. Following on last issue’s cliffhanger, Alpha’s now-imprinted driver deposits the “tiny band of rebels” in the middle of the desert, where Rossum is assembling a freshly-imprinted army. Trevor makes a reckless attempt at rescuing the former Ivy, and narrowly escapes an imprint. Meanwhile, after being forced to kill their radio-imprinted compatriots, Zone, Mag and Griff decide to “kill the tech” by attacking the transmitter. Alpha’s van is run off the road in the course of their escape from Rossum’s rendezvous point. In the chaos, Alpha is imprinted by the captive former Ivy. Fortunately, he is able to resist the imprint and as a result has access to the orders that he and the remaining Ivies were unable to extract from either the tech itself or their imprinted counterpart. As it turns out, Rossum’s sole purpose in raising this army is to kill Echo. Following this revelation, Alpha addresses the Ivy who imprinted him and the issue closes on a classic Alpha moment. If you’re a fan of the show, you know what I’m talking about.
Likes
- Trevor rescues the former Ivy by using the tech to temporarily remove his ability to hear, rendering him immune to the Wielders’ imprint devices.
- It could simply be that I haven’t watched the post-thoughtpocalypse episodes of Dollhouse in quite some time, but Zone is being presented as a noticeably darker character than I remember in this series.
- The logo on Alpha’s laptop is a pineapple.
- The last two pages. That’s all I’m going to say here.
Dislikes
- I have to wait an entire month for the next issue. Not cool!
Overall
My biggest concern with the previous issue was the fact that it focused on Alpha’s group to the exclusion of everyone else. While Zone, Mag and Griff weren’t a huge part of this issue, they were present, and it seems they’ll be playing a more significant role from this point on. Even if the emphasis remains on Alpha and the search for Echo, I was less concerned about the size of the other groups role as I was about the prospect of them being neglected.
Bottom line, the story’s pace is picking up, more characters are becoming involved and the revelation of both the army and the Wielders’ fourth directive adds a sense of urgency and scope to the story. So stop reading this review and go buy the comic!
Tags: Andrew Chambliss, Cliff Richards, comic booked, Comics, Dark Horse, Dollhouse, Dollhouse: Epitaphs, Epitaph, Jed Whedon, Joss Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen, Nick C, Review
About the Author
Written by Nick Cavicchio
Comic Booked's Managing Editor and self-appointed Spider-Man guru. Nick is a geek of all flavors, loving comics, video games and everything in between. Despite having no idea how he landed this gig, he is enjoying every minute of it.
Nice! Another one of Whedon’s shows getting some comic treatment…I like it!