Ahh, the second installment in the series my son calls “Monster & Love had a baby.” First of all, the only problem I have with this is that it isn’t 100 pages longer. I read it once last night & once this morning & the third book comes out when? Second, if I ever get $20 to rub together again in my life, I’m going to buy the big print of the cover art; I bought the big print of the back cover at DCC (autographed!) & it’s improved the value of my home considerably. Third, it was a total pleasure to see Fiona Staples at DCC & hear her talk about her artistic process. There are things she does that I’d never even considered but that make perfect sense, like taking pictures of her own face making certain expressions & translating these to the page. It’s one of the things that make these books such a treat for me, that the characters are so particularly expressive. I’m thinking specifically of when Barr blows in Alana’s face to put her to sleep & her expression is so absolutely spot on . . . anyway, it’s fabulous. It’s genius. This has all of the same awesomeness & wonder & debauchery & love & heart of the first book, as well as introducing some more kick ass characters, Gwendolyn & Barr in particular. Much thanks to my friend Laura who lent me this so I wouldn’t have to wait for my work copy to come in. Although now the wait for #3 is just that much longer, I’m still happy & satisfied.