This wasn’t a bad issue by far, but it wasn’t a great one, either. The enthusiasm I felt after reading the first issue has subsided to more of a vague interest.

While Michael, his wife Anna, and son Ty vacationed in India, Anna suddenly disappeared from a busy street in broad daylight without a trace. In this installment, Michael and Ty continue to search for Anna. Michael has been led by a woman named Chitra to a spiritual leader called the Rishi, a man who seems to know something about Michael but refuses to disclose anything due to Michael’s fear and selfishness. Chitra, also, seems to believe that Michael “could be the one.” (Not sure what that means exactly.) She leads father and son through a mystical door on their journey to find Anna, and their adventure begins.

Like the first issue, this one is fairly well told and an overall enjoyable read; the problem lies in its ubiquitous plot devices and character design. Michael is the run-of-the-mill American workaholic husband; Ty is the angst-ridden teenager; and, though I have no way of knowing how the tale will unfold, it seems that the Rishi and Chitra will most likely provide the spiritual awakening that Michael is so desperately in need of. All of the above characters are beginning to feel exactly like the above mentioned plot devices to me, rather than real people. And that’s a problem.

The concept of using archetypical characters is one that I feel is commonly used but absolutely necessary for great storytelling; the characters in these cases serve as more of an impetus for the story than some kind of new, ground-breaking designs. Since most character types have already been done in one form or another, it’s not that I object to character designs that have been done before; it’s just that I object when they’re portrayed the same way as I’ve seen them numerous times elsewhere. And that is what I see happening here.

In fact, many of the plot points within this story also feel like story devices, rather than the natural order of things. From the get go, we’ve seen several things pop up in the protagonists’ paths that appear to be there but soon we discover they aren’t, or they’ve “moved”; then the Rishi or Chitra say something obscure about that particular thing, and Michael is frustrated and confused. Again, all signs point toward “spiritual awakening.”

Not that spiritual awakening in a story is a bad thing. Far from it. Some of the best tales are those wherein the hero discovers hidden truths within himself. But this one is starting to feel more and more heavy-handed, and I don’t like my storytelling to be spoon fed to me.

To reiterate, though, this really isn’t a bad comic, hence the three bullets. It just feels more common than the first issue did, to my disappointment. But the dialogue, especially, is natural and engaging, and the flow of the story is a page turner; there’s no denying that.

The art by Mr. George is still solid and consistent. He’s great at portraying body language and action sequences and making them look natural. And one of my favorite things about the title as a whole is that there is no frivolous use of full page shots or extra large panels that take up half the page; each panel is put to good use, and when there is the occasional huge panel, it’s when something dramatic is happening (which is as it should be).

So, sadly, I can’t say that I’m probably going to buy the next issue. I can say that I will be willing to look over the subsequent issues to see if they look promising.

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