Broken Frontier

Our young heroine Jenna continues to probe into the mysteries surrounding her link to the occult.

Narwain Publishing’s outing with the manga-inspired series known simply as Jenna returns again with the second issue. But unlike the first issue, the narrative here is convoluted and more confusing, making this issue a troublesome read.

Needless to say, this story begins with Jenna at school and seemingly quite forgetful of the previous events last issue. So for those of you unaware, last issue Jenna watched on in horror as her home was burnt to the ground. Well, she doesn’t seem too broken up about it, and she’s seen here cavorting with her boyfriend Hall. In fact, another faux pas here is how quick she’s willing to sleep with Hall after overtly refusing to last issue. It does indeed make for some confusing moments, but the story forges ahead with the introduction of a brand new character.

He goes by the name of Paul Keen and he’s a heavy metal singer with a link to Jenna. Again, it’s hard to understand his connection to her at first, but it seems he has information that may suggest her father didn’t perish in the house fire from the previous issue. Of course this peaks Jenna’s interest greatly, and after the horrible experience of waking up next to her boyfriend and discovering his grim corpse-like visage lying next to her, she freaks out and runs to find Paul for an explanation. The trouble here is that Paul now looks to be involved in the mystery surrounding Jenna’s unsavory heritage and the issue is left off with more questions to be answered next issue.

I really can’t understand the connections here in this issue to make any well educated guesses as to whether or not this story makes much sense to me. To be honest I found so many plot holes spring up, that I often wondered what writer Philip Osbourne was thinking as he sat down to write his follow-up story. I daresay this issue is a mess and I’m afraid I’m going to have to go one step further and say the same thing for the art. I really enjoyed the art of Jim Fern from the first issue, but for whatever reasons he was replaced with an artist that I have no knowledge of. The artist in question goes buy the name of Maicon and I have to say that I didn’t find any of the artwork appealing at all. It lacked the energy and playfulness found in Jim Fern’s art, and Maicon’s work certainly gave this issue a completely different feel. It just wasn’t working as well for as the first issue did for my tastes.

So all I can say is buyer beware when looking for this copy in your local comics shop. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if most readers find themselves shocked at the blatant disregard for story continuity, and I am sure anyone who reads this issue will be as confused as I was. Good luck with this one.