Proctor Road Valley #2
August goes back out to Proctor Valley Road and gets more than she bargained for in Proctor Valley Road #2, by writers Alex Child and Grant Morrison, artist Naomi Franquiz, colorist Tamra Bonvillain, and letterer Jim Campbell. The plot thickens as the girls deal with the consequences of their aborted ghost tour.
The girls are each questioned by the police before going back to school. They're stopped by a newscaster trying to get an interview, but August and Jennie-O's brother Mike make mock of the newscaster. Later, the girls meet up at their hideout to discuss what to do next and take mushrooms. August suggests they go back out there and search for everyone when mysterious letters that spell out the word "Landlady" appear on them. Later, August decides to go out by herself to Proctor Valley Road with her father's gun. Once there, she encounters Skip's fiery apparition before her bike is destroyed by a demon car with Bobby in the back. Back in town, each girl gets a message at their house that lures them out to find August. On the Road, August is attacked by seven-foot-tall coyotes on their hindlegs. Her gun has little effect, and she takes a wound to the arm when the girls show up in Rylee's VW van and rescue her. Suddenly, things get really weird, and they encounter a new spirit.
Child and Morrison are doing an excellent job of setting the scene in this comic. This comic wears its time period on its sleeve, and that's actually a pretty good thing. For someone who knows the era, it can feel a bit exposition-y. However, one further thought, it makes sense. All of the things the girls talk about, teens in 1970 would talk about. It's good exposition, and it sets the stage perfectly. On top of that, the characters all feel real. Child and Morrison give a glimpse of each of their home lives, and it humanizes them a bit more, giving the reader more of an idea of who each girl is.
August is pretty much the book's MVP so far. She's the crazy one, the one who comes up with the wacky schemes and gets everyone else to go along with them. This issue shows that this maybe isn't the best way to be, as she's more than fine doing crazy stuff all on her own. This almost bites her, but her friends show up in the nick of time, all because of mysterious warnings. Who gave them warnings? What exactly is going on out on Proctor Valley Road? This issue gives no answers, but it makes the question intriguing enough to stick around for.
Franquiz's art does a lot of heavy lifting in this issue. Her strongest suit is her character acting, and it really shines through in this issue. She captures every scene's emotion rather perfectly, getting across what each page needs to. It really helps in the sections where readers are let more into the girls' worlds. The action out on Proctor Valley Road looks great as well.
Proctor Valley Road #2 does a great job of keeping readers interested. Child and Morrison do a great job of fleshing the characters out and keeping the intrigue going. Their writing combined with Franquiz's deft pencils makes this book a treat to come back to.
