Broken Frontier

The colossal battle of Rash and his newfound friends continues to rage on against the Supays.

The latest entry from Narwain Publishing brings us the second issue of Rash and this one is action-packed from beginning to end. I am also inclined to believe that this may yet be the best single issue produced by Narwain thus far in their short but illustrious publishing career.

So from the top, the story picks up right where the last one left off, as Rash and the group of mercenaries he’s aligned himself with reel from a surprise attack from more Supays. For those of you not privy to the previous issue, Rash laid waste to more than half a dozen Supays at the very beginning of the story. This time around the Supays regroup and attack them while they are undertaking a scouting mission inside an abandoned complex. Rash manages to take down several of the lupine-like creatures all by himself, but the other mercenaries aren’t as successful.

Almost the entire band of hired killers are all taken down and ravaged by the Supays leaving Rash and the leader of the mercenaries alive to narrowly escape. To make matters worse, another group of desperate marauders enters the fray looking for Rash. Again this puts them into another dire predicament, but Rash proves his mettle some more, and once again shows why he’s the toughest of nihilist heroes. He kicks butt left, right and center and before you know, there’s not even the slightest hint of danger left in the story.

Now that’s what I call a satisfying story from beginning to end and I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed this read. Again, writer Didier Arpin outdid himself and it’s safe to say that he has a good handle on balancing the action and dramatics throughout the issue. It certainly was a treat to read through, but the only thing that bugged me was the annoying choice of color usage. Much of this story takes place at night, and I am not sure what possessed artist Patrick Boutin Gagne to use highly saturated tones of purple and blue, but I felt his choices suffocated quality art. I don’t know what he was thinking, but it just isn’t working for my tastes and I think it brought down the presentation work a notch or two. It’s too bad because otherwise I thought the issue was solid and even more satisfying than the first installment.

But as a whole, Rash # 2 is a quality read for Narwain and I think with some tinkering here and there, this newly formed Euro based company is on the verge of greatness. So if you can stomach through the poor choice of coloring for the issue, I think you’ll enjoy the action segued here. I say fight on, Rash!