Posted in: Comics, Recent Updates | Tagged: Comics, image comics, Jiyoung Lee, Matt Harding, Nate Simpson, Nonplayer #2

After A Long Wait, Nonplayer #2 Surprisingly… Surprises

Published Fri, 05 Jun 2015 18:30:00 -0500

By Abdulkareem Baba Aminu

[*Spoilers for Nonplayer #2 below!]

Flashback: In Nonplayer #1 we met Dana Stevens, through whose eyes most of the tale is told. I fell in love with her and the idea of her being wrapped up in a role playing game wherein she's a kickass assassin while in reality she delivers Tamales and still lives at home with her mother and kid sister. Being that it's a long, long time ago since the comic debuted, it's not unfair to spoil the end where in the Warriors of Jarvath role playing game, Dana attacked and killed Queen Fendra and her furious husband King Heremoth retaliates in a battle that's far too real. Half-expecting #2 to pick up directly after Dana unplugs from the RPG back into the real world, I was a bit disappointed – bored even – to see otherwise.

This installment opens with the creator of the Warriors of Jarvath RPG being interviewed by a fairy-like reporter, revealing subliminally that the 'technepreneur' is hiding dark secrets. The story continues, slowly picking up pace by introducing new, cop-like characters carrying out a fantastical bust that can only be at home in a comic like this. At the end, protagonist Dana shows, but only to deliver Tamales. Even a peek into the 'engine room' of the corporation which produces Warriors of Jarvath failed to excite and simply left me longing for Dana's (and King Heremoth's) story to continue.

Finally, it does and super-pissed King Heremoth is made an offer he initially tries to resist. However, with revenge for his slain queen as incentive, he succumbs and the issue ends, leaving me gasping for more.

Nate Simpson's art is as gorgeous as ever and the long gap between issues isn't glaring thanks to him showing even more range than he did in his remarkable debut eons ago. What can be said about his work that hasn't been said before? Very little. An added bonus is the way the visual tone shifts slightly when one portion of the book/story gives way to another.

In the final analysis, what Simpson has achieved as a writer is a mixed bag: He's introduced new characters and added layers to the still-young world he's weaving and starving returning readers glimpses of favourite characters, creating scarcity, thereby bringing about a demand. His writing is taut in the right places and loose when it needs to be, making for an organic, evenly-told tale. By now it's pretty obvious that Nonplayer is going to be an intricate story both within the sprawling RPG world we've seen and in the book's version of reality. Here's to issue #3 in, say, another four years.

Nonplayer #2 is published by Image Comics and is written and drawn by Nate Simpson, Jiyoung Lee and Matt Harding.

Abdulkareem Baba Aminu is a Bleeding Cool contributor, newspaper editor, award-winning journalist, cartoonist, comic book creator, painter and poet. The Nigeria-based writer has reviewed comics, novels, movies and music for a variety of platforms. He is currently the Editor of the Saturday edition of the Daily Trust, one of the most influential newspapers in his country. You can follow him on Twitter @KareemReal

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