I excitedly waited for John Byrne’s Next Men Volume 2: Scattered Part 2 in the hope I could get answers to all the questions and dangling plotlines from volume 1. It does. Plus it’s the longest title I’ve encountered this year.
Scattered across time and with no idea where their fellow Next Men may be, Bethany, Nathan, Tony, Jasmine, Jack, and Danny find themselves alone. But their impact on history and their role in events continue as master craftsman John Byrne unwinds the conclusion of the first arc after his return to NEXT MEN.
- Writer/Artist: John Byrne
- Hardcover, 120 pages, 10.2 x 6.9 x 0.5 inches
- IDW Publishing
- ISBN-13: 978-1613770696
- $24.99 USD
- Order online: Amazon
I’m happy to report this volume wraps things up quite nicely. Yes, it closes with a new direction but there’s a nice satisfaction and feeling of closure. Characters are fleshed out as we watch them overcome their circumstances, not always as expected but in a thoroughly enjoyable manner. We’re fed just enough information to keep going and enjoy the ride; well done indeed.
Art continues to be classic Byrne but with a slight heaviness to the inks. I’m a broken record but if you’ve ever been a John Byrne fan pick up this series. Each issue opens with a splash page, an artistic comic element I didn’t realize I missed until reading this series.
This time around we get five issues for our $24.99 price tag, with a few extras: original covers inked and coloured. John Byrne’s Next Men Volume 2: Scattered Part 2 surpasses the excellence of the first volume: a quality read and a nice reintroduction to John Byrne. Oddly I couldn’t locate this volume on IDW’s website, but this seems to be a common problem.
Originally published at Comic Book Daily.
