Devil's Highway #2 Review

Writer: Benjamin Percy

Artist: Brent Schnoover

Rating: 7 of 8

 Devil's Highway #2

They say the Devil's in the details, but here, you'll find him with everyone else, riding along the highway. It's someone Sharon Harrow looks to find, only growing closer and closer with each step she takes into this dark, mysterious world.

That world being that of trucking, one I don't often see explored in fiction, especially in a murder mystery context. Like most things, it has potential for a rich, interesting story - and so far, Percy has definitely delivered. It's a very personal quest for Sharon, as she hunts her Dad's killer. To make things worse, he wasn't even their target - he just got in the way.

Though I read the 1st issue, one of the best parts of this is that you don't need to. Though you find out what Sharon's trying to do there, it's reiterated here, without taking up too much time, or bogging down the issue. Most of the time, Sharon's pretty caustic, which can make her hard to warm to. Despite this, in both issues, Percy + Schnoover manage to show another side to her, purely through the art, which is a great achievement.

The team does a few good things in the opening scene: they get you excited early on, set the issue's mood and set something up that's explored later on. Around the issue's midpoint, an old friend of her Dad explains the world of trucking to her. Most of this scene's fine and maybe even goes some way to explaining how she knows so much about how to hurt someone. 

But I do have some small problems with it. When we briefly flashback to her past, she looks to have the same length of hair and I think, given her profession, it would've been shorter. Partway through their conversation, we get some text boxes of their convo, though there's nothing to indicate who's talking and I think it would've been good to add an initial at the start of each box, or a different colour for each, to make it clear who's talking.

Overall, a pretty good 2nd issue. Whether you've read the 1st or not, I definitely recommend this one. It's consistently well written, well drawn and almost pitch perfect in it's execution. I'd definitely recommend a midnight drive down this highway.