Secret Identities #2
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Written by: Brian Joines & Jay Faerber
Art by: Ilias Kyriazis
Writing a superhero team book, where you have to find equal time for an ensemble cast, can’t be easy but Jay Faerber and Brian Joines sure make it look that way. Secret Identities #2 brings us a little closer to the members of The Front Line as the traitor Crosswind embeds himself further but not without raising some suspicion.
After a battle that was hypnotically staged through some exclamation point-shaped panels and shot through various dizzying angles, the team returns to their home base to decompress. The group has a nice chuckle over Crosswind trying to and failing to handle the pool of reporters’ questions on a newscast.
The majority of the issue deals with the interpersonal interactions between the Front Liners. Helot opens up to Vesuvius during a physical sparring match, Luminary confides in Punchline that she’s having a tough time balancing being a superhero and the daughter of the President and Recluse admitting to Gaijin he doesn’t trust Crosswind yet while they’re staking out a smuggling ring.
Joines and Faerber strike a nice balance of juggling these storylines with another action sequence that hold some consequences for Gaijin. Apart from Crosswind’s ill-intentions, Gaijin’s subplot may have some more immediate impact on the group.
The art from Ilias Kyriazis and the shared coloring duties from Charlie Kirchoff and Ron Riley provide a clean, bright and exciting look to the book. The character designs are especially unique and creative. Some artists, even famous ones, like to draw the same face and swap out hair styles and clothes to differentiate them but not Kyriazis. Each character, even minor ones, are as individual as real people. No shortcuts and no templates.
Secret Identities #2 is a story that is still evolving with likable characters, intriguing plot-lines and wonderfully conceived art.