The opening volume of The Boys had some shocking gratuity and a subtle moral message. Volume two switches these around in that the shocks and profanity have almost disappeared and the morality and complex and wordy story has come to the fore. This seems an abrupt change of pace. We learn little of our established characters in favour of telling two self-contained mysteries. The first is a murder mystery which unsubtly pokes a finger at how homophobic our society is and second is a lament on the passing of Mother Russia and an extended cock joke. The two stories are quite bold statements but feel like a detour, allowing us to catch our breath after the first traumatic instalment.

The art is as good as ever with strong characterisation, some good visual storytelling and sight gags. Some nice panels here and there but the art is more serviceable than ground-breaking. There are an awful lot of talking heads so maybe in future there will be more time to shine. Thumbs Up.

297/68

Tomorrow: The Boys: Volume 3 – Good for the Soul – Garth Ennis