Extremity vol. 2: Warrior

This volume is, for better and for worse, essentially what I was expecting after reading through the first one.  That means you can expect to see more fantastic art from creator Daniel Warren Johnson as Thea and Rollo, cast out of the Roto by their father Jerome, have to find their way to safety in a place known as the Ancient Dark.  It isn’t long before they’re rescued by the Essene, people who have forsaken the conflict that has riven the islands above. Said conflict hasn’t stopped because Thea and Rollo have been cast out as Jerome is working on a final gambit that will use the beacon he found to bring ruin to all of the Paznina.  The leader of the Paznina, on the other hand, won’t rest until ALL of the Roto have been wiped out.

This leads us to getting some fantastic visuals of the cobbled-together city where the Essene have made their home, and the monsters they’ve tamed there as well.  Most of the monsters living in the Ancient Dark aren’t the tame type, and while that’s bad news for its inhabitants, we get to see a genuinely thrilling escape sequence when something really big comes for Thea, Rollo, and their friends after they’ve been exploring down there.  You can also expect to see some thrillingly chaotic battle scenes towards the end of the volume as the Roto and Paznina engage in their final conflict, more for vengeance than anything else.

So if you were in the market for a series that provided one more reminder that vengeance is BAD, BAD, BAD and leads to NOTHING GOOD then “Extremity” will certainly fit the bill.  It does exactly that with all the expected speechifying, sacrifice, and loss on the part of the main cast. If you’re like me, however, then you’ll be bored to tears by all this and wonder why Johnson’s art couldn’t have been in service of a story that presented its message in a way that didn’t adhere so rigidly to convention.  Or, if the creator was feeling particularly daring, served up an ending that went straight to pitch-black nihilism to show us how vengeance is bad for everyone. The ending we get is fine, a little dull, and one that left me hoping Johnson comes back with a more interesting story to tell in his next series.