Blues Ratz #2

After a couple other things I wrote about (and my usual slackitude, sorry) it's back to Attila Kiss' Blues Ratz.  I described how I know Attila Kiss from the old HM website forums and how he alerted me to his recent work in this post, and I reviewed the first installment of Blues Ratz here.  Now I'll review the second installment Blues Ratz #2, and he's already sent Blues Ratz #3 to me, so that will follow.


To recap, in Blues Ratz #1, the three Gekimo brothers are seeking help for their oldest brother who has the "Blues", a debilitating obsession, with the help of their Canadian cousin.  After multiple mishaps and incarcerations, and the other brothers catching their versions of the Blues, they are offered help by the thug who killed their father. 


Here in #2, we find the "help" involves running contraband across Europe for the thug.  Given a car and its contents and instructions, they immediately proceed to screw it all up.  Ditching their Canadian cousin, the obsessed brothers careen from lewd behavior to drug deals gone bad to bribery, with their cousin trying desparately to follow, to end up at a brothel.  During which they address their Blues, and get back to "normal", which involves declaring war on the mob...


Blues Ratz #2 plows along the same path blazed by Blues Ratz #1.  The storytelling takes a convoluted but direct line, running, juking, stumbling sometimes, but always moving ahead.  Some jokes work better than others, and some are really funny, but it never stops.  The art is energetic and demonstrative, informative and often entertaining.  There are some interesting effects, like the yellow voice balloons with the not-so-pale blue shading for most of it, that can be dark but lets unshaded parts contrast, and the weird metallic shading on the last panel.  It's not what I usually seek out, but thanks to Mr Kiss for helping me look out from beneath the rock I live under.


I like it.  There's more enjoyment of a neat expression, or panel execution, or clever phrase, than annoyment or perplexed head-scratching.  It's a fun read, made more fun for me by my acquaintance with one of the creators.


He has Blue Ratz #2, and the other Blues Ratz stories right here:


https://www.comixcentral.com/vendors/a-kiss-store/


Blue Ratz #3 is out as well, and my review is coming right up (umm, when I get around to it, like usual).  Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion!