Broken Frontier

Damon Hurd and Rick Smith are back with the second installment of Temporary, which is every bit as solid as the astounding first issue.

Still upset from her bad experience with her last assignment, Envy St. Claire is today assigned to work at the police department. Once again, though, things may not go exactly as planned for Envy as she has to deal with a detective with multiple personalities. On top of that, Envy has her own mental issues to cope with.

The first issue of Temporary was utterly fascinating and gave the reader a shocking twist ending. A fair bit of satire also went into that issue. This issue is in the same trend as a book about the introspection into the mind, but it=s a considerably lighter read. Still, Damon Hurd manages to make this book thoroughly engrossing. The opening scene boasts the completely bizarre atmosphere from the first issue, but in a totally different way. The plot here is an interesting one. Most of Hurd=s past work has totally centered on characters, but this one has built up a fair amount of interesting plot points. This issue may mostly be set-up for the next issue, but it is a wonderful set-up and enjoyable in its own right.

The bread and butter of this comic, as with any book written by Damon Hurd, is still the character work. We get deeper into the mental problems of two characters in this issue. While Hurd=s allegory for split personalities strikes me as fairly simple, it is nonetheless entertaining. Envy=s character is also developed a bit further, as we delve deeper into her kleptomania and her all-business attitude. We also see a failed attempt to woo her. Finally, Hurd injects a bit of dry humor into the story.

Rick Smith has a new Shuck book due out very soon and I grow more and more excited about it as I see more and more of his work. His art here is absolutely gorgeous. While it may not appear to be very detailed, Smith shows some strong storytelling abilities while contributing a fair amount to the perfect atmosphere. Smith=s work with character design stands out the most to me in this book, as each character has a totally distinct look which suits his or her personality.

Independent comics fans have high standards for Hurd and Smith separately. This pairing sent those expectations skyward. Hurd and Smith have met every expectation and created a thoroughly engaging read.

-Eliot Johnson