Mind the Gap, Volume 2: Wish You Were Here

Mind the Gap #6-10

by Jim McCann, Rodin Esquejo (Illustrator), Dan McDaid (Illustrator)

New threats arise as the curtains pull back to reveal some of the most shocking secrets surrounding the mystery behind the attack on Elle Peterssen. Meanwhile, what is her connection to a 10-year-old girl who claims to actually be Elle's mind trapped in this girl's body? All of this, plus the acclaimed silent issue "Speechless" and the unmasking that changes the entire series.

Collects Mind the Gap #6-10.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Mystery, Fantasy, Fiction, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics

136 pages, Paperback

First published June 19, 2013

About the author

Jim McCann is an award-winning writer of comic books, television, and theatre. He worked on several films and music videos before he was accepted into the ABC Daytime Writer Development Program. During that time he wrote for the popular ABC daytime drama One Life to Live. Upon moving to New York, he found a position at Marvel Comics, where he remained for six years, working in publicity and PR.

He wrote several critically acclaimed Marvel HAWKEYE series before branching out into creating his own comics and graphic novels, as well as other projects. His first graphic novel, RETURN OF THE DAPPER MEN, won the comic book industry's top award: Best Original Graphic Album. He has since gone on to create hit series such as the space-heist LOST VEGAS and the ongoing top-rated series MIND THE GAP, both published through Image Comics.

McCann earned his BA in Communication Arts, Electronic Media as well as a double minor in English and Theatre from Xavier University in Cincinnati, OH.

He currently resides in Los Angeles, where he is represented by Chelsea Reed at CAA and managed by Stan Spry at The Cartel.

Reviews

[Eilonwy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This second collection kept up the fast pace, suspense, and breathlessness of the first installment. I can't tell where the heck this series is going, but it's definitely a fascinating journey.

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm actually still enjoying this book. I didn't expect that. The first two or three issues were a little slow, and felt a bit repetitive. But then big things happen, fast, and questions are actually answered without completely eliminating the mystery. At the end of this book, I'd say that I know much more about what's going on, but that I'm just now starting to realize just how much I don't know. That's kind of cool, especially because it feels very naturally planned. I don't get the sense that this is being made up as it goes along, because the puzzle pieces fit so neatly together. The ending of this volume had some actually surprising moments, and it seems like the book is going to take quite a turn in the next volume.

[Anna (Bananas) · Rating 4 out of 5]

First, the story's gotten better! Mysteries were revealed, including who the good guys and bad guys are, approximately, and it appears Elle's brother might have a heart after all. Wow. Her mom, however - still no heart.

Once again the title of the volume is wonderfully appropriate. These 5 issues were pretty emotional and often dealt with Elle's efforts to reach her loved ones on the other side. That cover for volume 2, however, was a bad choice. This one, my absolute favorite cover in the series, would have been a much better selection.



On to the emotions: Elle connected with her best friend, Jo, using the body of a young blonde girl in a coma that she borrowed - with permission, it should be noted. Jo now realizes Elle is conscious on the other side and capable of communicating with the living, however briefly.


Elle also tries to connect with her boyfriend, Dane, in issue 11, and okay this isn't technically in vol 2 but I want to talk about it anyway. I found this page particularly affecting.


What I didn't like was some of the art this round. The covers are still great, no problem there. The inside art is still sharp and the colors fantastic, but the penciler seems to be experimenting. He often uses strange angles and perspectives with less than stellar results. This page, for example, should have been alarming, and it was, but not for the right reason. I was more distracted by Jo's idiotic-looking face than by the blonde girl dying on her lap.


Another thing I didn't like, Elle's friend in the afterlife, Bobby, kind of disappeared. He had such a promising introduction and I enjoyed his flirty, instructional dialogue with Elle, so I had high hopes for him. On the plus side, Jo, Eddie Jr. (Elle's brother), and even Dane (the possibly ex boyfriend) all became more stimulating characters.

I'm looking forward to volume 3 and what will be revealed. There are hints of something called Lazarus (that name always piques my interest), weird mathematics, and Elle possibly being involved in her own accident. Things are getting interesting!


More art
Elle being terrorized by ghosts wanting her to use their bodies to connect with their families.

[Melissa Chung · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super weird sequel. I read the first volume a while ago so, it did take me a minute to understand where I left off. Overall 4 stars. I'm seeing a similarity to Morning Glories. A lot of "what the hell is going on" and "who the hell is in charge".

Elle Pettersen is in a coma. She is able to see herself. She is aware that she is in a coma, but is not able to wake up. She is able to get through to her friend Jo, on occasion. Jo, such a wonderful friend. Believe all this to be real and goes with the flow, which is a great help for Elle.

I can't really say too much about this volume, except we are getting deeper in the the rabbit hole and everyone has a piece of the "EAT ME" cake. What is going to happen next?

[Emily Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mind the Gap is a great mystery, and the strength of Volume Two is its mostly contained setting within the hospital. There's great art, and I love the use of other artists to illustrate flashback scenes. If anything I could do without the heavy handed "whodunnit" questions and the authorial "have you found the clues?" prompting. Either I'm dense and not seeing the clues, or more likely I'm just following the story like a normal reader and not going "aha! a clue!" every time there's a plot reveal.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the first volume a few weeks ago so it took me a second to fully engage myself in this one.

Elle is in a coma but she is in the 'gap' - unable to wake up physically within herself but able to provide 'closure' through others who are trying to pass on. She can embody other bodies and this is how she communicates with her friend Jo.

This is the volume where the hole grows bigger and things get deeper. New characters aren't introduced but the existing relationships already established in volume one grow and become more clear. You find out who 'put' Elle in a coma and you find that some of those the closest to her are at fault for being involved.

This is not a storyline that allows for multitasking - if you don't fully concentrate, you will find yourself going back to re-read sections or lost altogether. There's a grand mystery and you will try your best to figure things out but just when you think you've got a piece to the puzzle, the puzzle gets larger.

I'm not as eager to read volume three (at least not as eager as I was to read this volume), so there is that. It's not a dull story but the movement is slightly slow - I hope more answers are revealed soon..otherwise, I might have to admit defeat and move on to another series. I don't mind waiting for answers but I want bait dangling in front of me at times to keep me swimming with fervor.

If you enjoyed volume one then you will probably be interested in volume two - but if you felt so-so on it like I did, this volume might start losing your interest. I hope volume three reels me in so I don't drift to the shallow end and climb out altogether.

[Alex E · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has a really interesting way of peeling back some of the layers of the story to give us answers, but of course, the answers lead to more questions. And while this is something that happens in most good mysteries, the way its done here is subtle and cohesive. In other words, it never feels like you dont know where you are in the story, because its very linear and streamlined.

Add to that the gorgeous art and you have a pretty entertaining book.

There are some pacing issues at times as the book tends to linger in areas. However this doesn't take away from the overall quality of the book. If anything, that type of lingering better helps us get to know the characters and their (possibly secret) motivations.

Recommended for mystery fans.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Volume 1's great mystery is still around but new elements are added here that actually lesson the overall storyline. The book is still good but I the "big bad" is too much at this point. The art continues to be amazing. Overall, McCann's work slips a little here and I fear the book is heading the wrong direction.

[Felicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't remember why I gave the Volume 1 of this series 3 stars because I'm utterly in love with this series. Unfortunately it looks like Volume 3 will be the last and I'm praying there is some type of conclusion in it.

[Aric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, well....a few surprises here. I'm curious as to how and if all of the questions, character motivation reveals and plot lines will be tidied up in the third volume. It'll be a lot of work.

[Woowott · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Tee Cee · Rating 5 out of 5]

The art of this series is good, bordering on GREAT!! The plot is twisty and bizarre but incredibly captivating. I may have to go to a 12 step program to get away from this series!!

[Mayar Mahdy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Again, this was so good to read.. just the perfect amount of discoveries and mysteries.

Can't wait for the next one

[Charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

5 for art, 3 for ease of understanding the story, we'll see.

[Arnoldo · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a lot to unravel. He weaves a good yarn, but there is humor missing at times. There is no brevity, everything is happening at a neck-breaking pace.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good continuation of the story. Some progress is made with the central mystery. (Maybe not enough, but we'll see.)

[Francine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not super invested in the story or the characters tbh. The art is nice, though. And I like the overall concept.

[Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have no clue to what the mystery surrounding Elle is but I'm excited to see all the dots connected. I have no idea who to trust or who to dislike. No one but Jo, Elle's best friend, is very likable. Jo is the character that's keeping me interested and hopeful for a happy ending. i feel like she'll fight tooth and nail to try and save Elle. A high point from this volume was the art sequence for Lonnie being dealt with. I almost thought it was a dream sequence, it was so different and well done.

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

McCann's intelligent supernatural-tinged mystery continues and the plot is thickening something fast. There aren't any new characters introduced, but some of the existing links & relationships between these characters are revealed to the reader. It's hard to keep track of who's working with whom (or who is double-crossing whom - or both!), and there's still so much that we don't know about. Depending on what McCann's got planned down the road, this series will, ultimately, either [a] be a tour-de-force mystery story (or at least a very good one), or [b] get tangled in its own web and make the whole house of cards it's built come toppling down. I'm hoping for [a], of course!

This is a book that demands your attention when you read it. For all we know, clues could be all over the place, but we just don't know where to look. And that ubiquitous hoodie!! It's everywhere! (kind of like in Batman: Hush, where the mysterious trench coat was seen all over the place). It's fun to try & figure out the mystery, but at this point there's more things we don't know than things we do know, so the whole exercise is practically pointless.

As for the conspiracy that's going on, some reveals in this book hint at very unexpected developments in the next volume(s), and I for one am intrigued & looking forward to see where this goes.

To be continued in Mind the Gap Volume 3: Out of Bodies Tp.

[Andy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well, I'm done with this title.

I like Jim McCann, I do. I liked him writing Hawkeye books, I obviously love the Dapper world, and he is a really nice, reasonable dude.

I didn't like the first volume of this book though, and I REALLY didn't like the second volume. And don't get me wrong, it could be written well or just for an audience that is completely unlike me (I would suggest reading Michelle White's "Bridging the Gap" columns over at Multiversity Comics to help you out), but I just found this book to be a huge slog to get through, and found no enjoyment in it.

The concept is kind of cool, but the execution doesn't work for me. Again, it's one of those stories that I think would be better as a novel, but I don't really know if there is enough there for that to work.

And I hate the art. I don't like the art of Morning Glories or the covers, so yeah, this does nothing for me. It looks like really odd shaped 3d models or something. I get that the clothes are almost modern and cute and all, but the characters are all vaguely similar and the backgrounds are just plain and confusing. It doesn't work.

This book has SOME audience and I definitely respect them if it's their thing, I just won't be buying volume 3.

[Simone Hagemann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating: 4.5

Jeg havde høje forventninger til denne, da den første volume var helt fantastisk. Og nøj hvor var denne det virkelig også! Jeg er fuldstændig forelsket i denne serie, og kan på ingen måder få nok.

Historien fortsatte hvor sidste volume sluttede, og historien i denne blev omend ikke endnu mere spændende, end den var i den første. Den er simpelthen så godt udtænkt, og jeg sad hele tiden og bare blev nødt til at læse videre, da jeg slet ikke kunne slippe den, før jeg havde fået nogle svar på, hvad der skete.

Man får lidt svar i denne, men slet ikke nok til at kunne regne ud, hvad der sker. Hvilket jeg faktisk rigtig godt kunne lide. Denne måde at gøre det på holdte mig i hvert fald bare endnu mere fast, og gjorde det hele meget mere spændende. Selvom jeg selvfølgelig ville havde ønsket, at jeg havde fået en lille smule mere opklaring.

Illustrationerne i denne er også helt fantastiske det meste af tiden. Der kom dog et sted, hvor tegnestilen ændrede sig ret meget, og da jeg virkelig ikke kunne lide denne stil, og faktisk blev meget forvirret af den, så trak det desværre min læseoplevelse en anelse ned. Men resten var fuldstændig i den stil, som jeg elsker, og jeg nød rigtig meget at kigge på disse illustrationer.

[Nomad nimrod · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still good.

[Erin Entrada Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still enjoying this series and can't wait to see where it goes. My biggest complaint is that some of the characters so closely resemble each other that I find it distracting.

[Meran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ellis is still in a coma, but has worked out a way to communicate with her friend, Jo. The method, however, involves someone else in a coma whose spirit is about to pass on or whose body gets unplugged from the machines and not a very reliable mode of communication.

The mystery of Ellis' injury which resulted in a coma is still unsolved, though family members are now implicated. As is an unknown hooded figure who seems to be the "working hand" of another person, a Controller.

The girl's doctor is also involved. Seems there's been a long term plan with Ellis at the middle, the subject of some kind of medical experiment. This volume is moving along at a better rate of plot development.

[Coral Davies · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really love the art work in this comic but I'm now starting to lose interest in the story.

Although we find out in this volume who "put" Elle in a coma will still don't know why, just that people are hinting that she is more than just your average Broadway actress. We know her entire family is involved plus others but everyone seems to be working for themselves and constantly back stabbing one another. Although this is interesting at first it becomes frustrating and in reality nothing much has been revealed to the reader in 10 issues.

I will give the third volume a go but if it doesn't get better I will admit defeat for this series.

[Cale · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess when you keep throwing more pieces at a puzzle, eventually a few of them will have to come together. That's what this feels like - no resolution, but things do sort of move in that direction, even as more pieces are added to the puzzle. Elle's a bit more proactive in this book, if that can be used to describe a coma patient, and the threads are getting pulled tighter. This book doesn't do much on its own, but it it does seem to be carrying the story forward. Just without much that is memorable.

[Valleri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even more confusing than the first volume. I hope volume 3 holds more answers because after the final panel on the last page, I'm even more confused than Elle herself. At times it feels as though this series is much more convoluted than it needs to be. But how else is an author supposed to gain as much financial prosperity out of a mystery series than to draw out the conclusion as long as humanly possible? The challenge becomes losing the audience while attempting to empty their wallets. I'm only marginally impressed with where Mind the Gap is going.

[Althea J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The top listed review for this book is by Eilonwy and it says pretty much what I was going to say:
"This second collection kept up the fast pace, suspense, and breathlessness of the first installment. I can't tell where the heck this series is going, but it's definitely a fascinating journey."

I don't know about "fascinating" but it's definitely enjoyable!

I'm being lazy and just quoting someone else's review because I'm off to go read volume 3.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

McCann pulls off a difficult trick in this book: he begins to answer the mysteries of the first volume, while continuing to introduce new mysteries to the narrative, all while maintaining a feeling that the narrative is moving forward.

I do feel like this volume loses its focus a bit, as we hare off after other characters, but when we get close enough to them to see other stuff going on, it ends up being intriguing. Overall, I like how this volume opened up the "Mind the Gap" world.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure what to think of this. We finally know who's the good guys and who's the badies, but we don't know WTF is going on beyond that. I was eager to keep reading to find out what was going on, but at the same time the overly cryptic characters got on my nerves. It wasn't natural, and characters acting dumb to keep readers in the dark has always been a pet peeve of mine.

As for the art, it's just plain ugly, and the terrible digital colouring just makes it worse.