Being stranded on an unknown planet in a rundown colony is bad. Being hunted down by the leaders of the colony is even worse. Unfortunately for soldier Mike Blackburn, this is where he finds himself at the start of Cemetery Beach issue two, written by Warren Ellis, with art by Jason Howard and lettering by Fonografiks. Mike doesn’t get a moment to breath as the action in this story is nonstop from beginning to end.

Mike and Grace are on the run from soldiers sent by President Barrow to bring them in, dead or alive. They are an unlikely duo, and it’s unknown if they can actually trust each other, but they are each other's best hope to make it home alive.

While Ellis reveals more about the setting and characters in this issue, there are still many questions left unanswered. Grace’s backstory is briefly introduced, explaining more about why she was captured by the government of the colony and why she is willing to help Mike. However, no more is revealed about Mike, President Barrow, or the other citizens of the colony. Hopefully, Ellis reveals more of the secrets as the series continues.

Howard continues with an art style that feels like a sketch with rough linework and hatching. This does not detract from the story because it fits with the messy, rough setting of the world. The coloring is similarly loose and sketchy. Most of the panels are done in dark colors--blues, greys, purples, and black--but scattered throughout are single panels done in brighter colors, like yellow and orange. Limiting the use of these panels helps punctuate the moments of intense drama, as well as keeping things visually interesting.

Since Cemetery Beach is only going to have seven issues, there is a lot of pressure for each issue to contain as much information as possible without overloading readers. The creative team behind this story is proving to be capable of this by revealing details in a way that feels natural and not forced, and keeping enough information hidden so that readers want to come back for the next issue to find out more.

GRADE: B+