The Quarter Bin

You saw the preview, so now it’s time to take a closer look at Top Cow’s Berserker #2.

Berserker #2
Writer: Rick Loverd
Artist: Jeremy Haun
Cover Artists: Dale Keown, Jeremy Haun

In Berserker #1, a few questions were raised. In this issue, absolutely none are answered, but even more are asked, including this one, by me: How the hell is this going to end?

Farris and Aaron, the dual protagonists leading separate, fairly normal lives before this insane power infected them, are in the process of dealing with the aftermath of the first issue–as well as you can deal with it. After all, Farris absolutely mutilated his jerk of a boss, while Aaron tore apart the person he loved more than any other. I’m not sure that there is any dealing with that kind of thing.

The problem with having two separate main characters is that neither of their storylines really had a chance to advance very far. We do know that they are not alone in the world; others seem to have the same power, and may even be able to control it. What makes these two men different is their sheer strength; even for a Berserker, one notes, they still create an obscene amount of carnage. Berserker #2 is even more bloody, gorey, and gross than the issue before it. I imagine that it must be something of a challenge for writer Rick Loverd to maintain the narrative without going over-the-top with the dismemberment.

In this issue, it also appears that the new Berserkers are suffering from certain side effects (you know, besides blacking out and going on violent killing sprees). Both Farris and Aaron see, and interact with, people they have killed; are these hallucinations? Ghosts? Something deeper? Again, those are questions that we don’t have the answers to. This could be an interesting development, though, depending on where it goes, and I’m eager to find out.

We’re now two issues into the six-issue storyline of Berserker, and while I still think it’s a job well done by Rick Loverd and Jeremy Haun, I’m just wondering what’s in store for Aaron and Farris in the next four issues. Will that be enough time to complete this narrative? Will any questions be answered? Will anyone who comes in contact with these men survive? Maybe next month we’ll find out.

Berserker #2 is in comic shops now.