Yes, we've got 'em! Straight out of the box from the printers, hot off the press! It's been a long time coming, but the second issue of comics maestro, Kevin Huizenga's magazine-size, one-person anthology comic book series has at last arrived. The first thing you notice about this issue is that it has a nice feel and solid heft, with sturdy cardstock cover and heavy, flat, off-white stock.
Its 32 pages offer deep dives into comics consciousness that make many explorations into the what and how of comics mechanics, with a special focus on Kevin H.'s long-running protagonist, Glenn Ganges and his partner, Wendy. Taken together, these pieces form a jangled, juxtaposed, jump-cut portrait of the comics artist at middle age that features a blending of interior and exterior lives.
While the world of comics and comics making is the subject of only some of the narratives, each piece has its own discrete form of address, from the abstractions of "Fight or Run" to the personal reflections of "Maps and Calendars" to the formal studies embodied in "The Body of Work Keeps The Score" and more – most notably the grimly timely adaptation of the 1914 hymn-like poem, "All the Hills and Vales Along" by Charles Sorley (dubbed the "GG Remix").
The unique attribute linking them all is that every piece is about comics at the same time that it is comics. That's the Huizenga magic at work.