Well, folks. I'm happy to report that the enjoyment I gleefully expressed in my review of Dante's Inferno #1 was not a fluke. After years upon years of horrific video game comics, we may finally have a full fledged winner on our hands. Dante's Inferno #2 is not perfect by any means - in fact, it's predecessor was a much better issue - but it's certainly no failure.
The tale picks up right where issue #1 left off, with Dante entering the gates of Hell to rescue his beloved Beatrice from the evil clutches of that dastardly bastard The Devil. With the source material nearly thrown out entirely, we learn that Satan has plans to make Beatrice his wife and Queen of Hell. Gasp! As silly as it sounds, it's such an absurdly far stretch from the original epic poem that you can't help but enjoy it. In essence, this version of Dante's Inferno is what 9th graders all across the globe will be expecting to read when they buy the EA-christened reprinting of Dante Alighieri's original.
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The main problem with this issue is unfortunate, as the root of the problem is also my favorite part of the book. Diego Latorre's work is haunting and beautiful. I love the abstract qualities and I love his usage of red and how utterly chaotic it looks. However, it's also incredibly difficult to follow, particularly when writer Christos Gage is constantly alternating scenes between Dante and Beatrice. We are able to follow to some extent because of the dialog, but in many cases it's difficult to distinguish who is talking to who, and which demon is which.
This wasn't really a problem in the first issue, because the scene changes of issue #1 were significantly less jarring and frequent than they are here. What ultimately results is a reduction of interest in the overall narrative and its characters, and brings to light a few areas where Gage and Latorre could work together better as a collaborative team. Judging by Latorre's style, Gage could stand to write a little more in Latorre's favor to help the structure seem more consistent. Latorre could establish some sort of color scheme to distinguish certain scenes from one another, because as great as they are individually, many of the images ultimately blend together.
The fact remains that Latorre's work is phenomenal. Take a look at his interpretation of Limbo, and you'll see what I mean. It's creepy and oddly beautiful all at once. Gage gets less of a chance to stretch his fingers here than he did in issue #1, as this installment is limited mostly to explaining the first circle of Hell and what Lucifer wants with Beatrice.
In the end, there is nothing in this issue that should keep you from giving it a shot. Whether you are pumping yourself up for the upcoming literary classic turned gorefest, or a simply a fan of either of the creators involved, you won't be letting yourself down.
