Blue Estate #2

Written by Viktor Kalvachev, Kosta Yanev, and Andrew Osborne
Art by Viktor Kalvachev, Toby Cypress, Nathan Fox, and Robert Valley

Part way through this issue, I figured out what Blue Estate is reminding me of: Azzarello and Risso's classic Vertigo series 100 Bullets must have been more than a passing influence, with it's similarly kaleidoscopic plotting and myriad characters.

This issue of Blue Estate continues to introduce and establish characters.  We learn a lot more about Rachel, like that she's not actually an alcoholic, and that she has been communicating secretly with her AA sponsor.  Of course, he's not at all what he seems to be.

We also meet Rachel's brother, who has a gorgeous stripper girlfriend, and is taking part in a dubious-looking real estate transaction with the gangster's son that we met in the last issue.  As we get to know these characters, I find myself getting more and more interested in this book.

The shifting art styles continues to work very well here.  I'm not entirely sure who is drawing what (although Tobey Cypress is pretty unique), and I like the way styles shift gradually.  In all, this is another one of those recent Image comics that prove that it's the most interesting comics publisher out there.