After a promising first issue, Gotham City Monsters #2 becomes a bit of a confusing mess, introducing new characters and repeating beats from the previous installment. Steve Orlando is a solid writer and has done great work on other comics at DC, so one has to wonder what has gone wrong with this issue.

After their failure to stop the rise of Melmoth in the previous issue, Frankenstein and Andrew Bennett part ways. Frankenstein gathers the rest of the team advertised on the cover--Lady Clay, Orca, and Killer Croc--while Bennett faces Melmoth alone, to little avail. Also, there’s a brand new character who is a demon but might be good? And mandrills from Mars? Many of the story beats are simply confusing.

Orlando has a good handle on the protagonist, DC’s particular take on Frankenstein’s monster, and his depiction of the character is consistent with his portrayal in Grant Morrison and Jeff Lemire’s earlier defining works. Unfortunately, everyone else seems to come off as a bit of a cipher, with one-dimensional motivations and character decisions that serve the plot instead of seeming genuine. 

The art by Amancay Nahuelpan (with colors by Trish Mulvihill and letters by Tom Napolitano) is serviceable, but not remarkable. The standout moment of the book is an amusing page of Killer Croc going on a batch of job interviews, and it works because of the simplicity and repetition of the scene. Everything else in the book is more complicated but somehow less effective.

Overall, Gotham City Monsters #2 is an inoffensive book. It has a compelling character, a few funny moments, and it ends with a good cliffhanger. It’s not a standout, however, and it has some confusing moments, which makes it a good issue, but hard to call it great.

Grade: B