An incarcerated superhuman mutant continues to chase phantom memories of a world that doesn’t exist as the prison warden struggles with the morality of his job in another satisfying exploration of dystopian incarceration in the second issue of Prisoner X. Vita Ayala continues to weave a very disciplined story that is meticulously drawn by Argentine artist Germán Peralta. Mike Spicer lends color to the prison and its inhabitants. Mystery continues to bleed and pulse around the edges of aggression in a prison for super-humans. A second enjoyable issue in a row makes this one of the more reliable series in the multi-miniseries Age of X-Man event.

“The dream is real. The reality false! Get out!” It was written on a note that slid into Bishop’s life. He’s been having dreams of a world that doesn’t exist. To make matters worse, Bishop is an X-Man in prison. Life is complicated for a man who has come to live in prison he shares with so many others he and his colleagues have sent there. Meanwhile, Prison Warden Forge feels uncomfortable having a hero in his prison. He pays lip service to those in charge, but he’s not exactly comfortable with the situation as Bishop learns a bit about prison politics from an unlikely source.

Ayala’s unwavering focus on life inside a prison is admirable. About halfway into the issue, the full reality sets in once more: this series really IS going to be set entirely in a prison. The drama between Bishop and fellow inmate a blue, furry Hank McCoy reveals a bit more sophistication. Bishop’s looking for answers about his dreams. “Stop asking your questions so loudly,” McCoy advises Bishop. “Or the wrong people will answer them.” It’s clever moments like this that lends the world of The Danger Room Prison Complex an intriguing sense of vitality.

Peralta’s work is perfectly matched for a series set entirely in a prison. There’s a clean, institutional feel about the lines and angles of the prison. His attention to detail has a kind of perfection about it reminiscent of something that might have been painstakingly programmed in on AutoCAD. What’s REALLY impressive about this is the fact that he doesn’t compromise raw human emotion and aggression in the antiseptic atmosphere of a gleaming, dystopian prison. Peralta’s attention to detail is particularly impressive wherever Warden Forge rests. He’s not speaking or behaving in any way that would suggest that he has anything but total trust in the dystopian authority, but Peralta frames Forge’s silent stoicism in a way that makes it totally clear that he’s deeply suspicious of the whole situation. That kind of subtlety is inspiring in a narrative artist. So much of what Spicer is doing with the color is simply adding intensity to the drama written across the faces of everyone involved, but there are a few moments of ghostly moodiness in the background. Spicer’s work is particularly impressive in drawing shadows across the prison. The sun outside and fluorescent lighting inside have distinctly different qualities of light. Spicer manages to bring across that distinct difference on a comic book page, which really shouldn’t be possible. Somehow Spicer makes it work.

The first issue ended with a note. The second issue ends with something much more devastating. The mystery ramps-up pretty heavily in this issue. There’s a steady increase in intensity over the course of the issue that gets kind of crazy at the end. It’s a fun trip, but it’ll be interesting to see if Ayala and company are able to maintain the kind of tight, clean rhythm for the remainder of the mini-series.

Grade: A