Clayface: Celebrity Dirt (2026-) #2

Clayface: Celebrity Dirt (2026-) #2

by Jude Ellison S. Doyle, Fran Galán (Artist)

Basil Karlo tracks the man who stole his identity to the set of Hollywood’s hottest new film production, but getting close to “Basil Karlo” means sneaking onto the studio lot via forgotten underground tunnels and discovering the nightmare waiting underneath. Meanwhile, a new supplement is causing grotesque transformations across Los Angeles. Clayface’s comeback is about to become a horror show as acclaimed writer Jude Ellison S. Doyle and rising-star artist Fran Galán continue bending genres and bodies.

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels

Kindle Edition

Published August 12, 2026

About the author

Jude Ellison S. Doyle is an author, journalist, and comic book writer living in upstate New York.

Under his former pen name “Sady Doyle,” Jude founded the feminist blog Tiger Beatdown in 2008. He is the author of "Trainwreck: The Women We Love to Hate, Mock, and Fear... and Why" (Melville House 2016), which has been called "smart, funny and fearless" (Boston Globe), "compelling" and "persuasive" (New York Times Book Review). The Atlantic predicted that "Trainwreck will very likely join the feminist canon." Doyle’s second book, "Dead Blondes and Bad Mothers: Monstrosity, Patriarchy and the Fear of Female Power" (Melville House, 2019) was named a Best Non-Fiction Book of 2019 by Kirkus Reviews and was shortlisted for Starburst Magazine’s Brave New Words award. His first non-fiction book under his real name, "DILF: Did I Leave Feminism," will be published by Melville House in the fall of 2025.

In 2021, Jude published "Maw," a limited-series horror comic with artist A.L. Kaplan, for Boom! Studios. His follow-up, "The Neighbors" with artist Letizia Cadonici, was published in 2023, and was nominated for a 2024 GLAAD award for “Outstanding Comic.” Both are now available in collected edition, and Jude’s third series, "Be Not Afraid" with artist Lisandro Estherren, is forthcoming from Boom! Studios.

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who is Clayface?
While Clayface was in Arkham, the man the world knows as Basil Karlo made quite a name for himself in Hollywood. But people are disappearing around him...
At the same time, a new beauty supplement is causing horrible disfigurements.
The tabloids are calling it Meltdown.
But I'm calling it Melty-face.



After escaping in the last issue, our Clayface is now roaming the streets and stalking the movie star he believes is using his name and face - ultimately taking the stardom he believes is rightfully his.
Now, is this Clayface Basil Karlo?
The doctor at Arkham certainly didn't believe so.



Alone and frustrated that he can't get near Karlo, Clayface connects with a kind young woman in the building where he's staying. He's taken the face of an elderly gentleman, and she gives him hope that he can maybe find his way back to a life.



And then something spoilery happens to her, and we're left with quite a cliffhanger!

Recommended.

[Rob Vitagliano · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars on this one. I decided to give this book one more shot, mostly because I really like Fran Galán's artwork, and I'm glad I did. This second issue was definitely better. It starts off with a talking head spouting off his right wing diatribe, then what happens immediately tells you what the author's politics are. Normally I'm not into that. I try to stay neutral, but it was still funny to see in this instance.

Not sure exactly what this other Clayface is doing to the young women that come to his trailer, if he's absorbing them, eating them, or what. Hopefully he doesn't do that to Katie Park, a neighbor that Basil meets. She's the emotional center of this issue, and she seems like someone Karlo will need in his corner.

Overall, this story isn't one I'll be running to the comic shop to buy, but I'm intrigued enough to keep it going for the moment.

[Whatslifeanyways · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seems like a lot of people are affected by this new drug that transforms them into some stage of clayface. This really sets up the movie and anyone can pick up which is refreshing. What’s the deal with this Basil karlo he went full on serial killer mode and the main clayface we are following can’t get near him for some reason. Its a fun series i fully recommend.

[Seth Daub · Rating 4 out of 5]

this issue has me pulled in much more than the first dude. issue 2 did a lot of the character work i felt the first was lacking.

there is some great horror here too. a good mystery to solve as well.

[Cybernex007 · Rating 4 out of 5]

The plot is thickening and getting much bigger. But I still love that this issue was able to slow down and explore topics of predatory influencer culture and addiction while we follow a Clayface who is supposedly the real Basil sneaking onto film lots trying to get close to the imposter to figure out what is happening. But I think things are gearing up to get much bigger, as the issue starts with a toxic pos podcaster running the hate train right into the ground to set himself up for selling supplements. But these supplements have the ironic effect of causing his pith to stretch out and fall to the table he is sitting at, no sound the billboard they show for “losilmi” with the tagline of “total control of your body” is related and I wouldn’t be surprised if big celebrity “Basil Karlo” has something to do with it. At the moment the clayface we are following has made it back to LA, where he has taken over the identity of an elderly man who died when he arrived. Clayface has found that a young woman named Katie Park, who lives two doors down, occasionally checks on him and brings him groceries. As we see Katie head out, we also see her run into a man on the street with a very clown looking face. I can’t help but think this is clownface, he definitely has the creepy vibe down to be as he approaches her in the street and mentions that he recognizes her from the diner and remembers how nice she is and how this world is missing real human connection…like I said, perfectly creepy things to say to someone in the street as she rushes off and makes it clear he can come by the diner (hopefully in daylight) anytime.

Clayface doesn’t seem to notice this interaction, instead focused on finding out more about this fake Basil. He tries what would be his normal route which is alerting the news through a publicist…but he doesn’t have a publicist anymore and he is terrible with public relations and is promptly hung up on for sounding like a crazy person. Instead Basil gets close, slinking through the sealed off tunnels under W.I. studios he is able to take the place, an snatch the phone, of a crew member who had to leave because of her sick mother. Clayface attempted to use this disguise to deliver pages to Basil Karlo, but was quickly warned away from some other crew members as they are instructed to stay away from Karli’s trailer. While they don’t see it behind the closed doors, Basil’s assistant just walked in with matcha…only to step on a puddle of clay where she is promptly swept up and dragged around the room. It honestly looks like she is melting into the clay, which makes me wonder if she was ever real or if she has been taking those supplements and her body is now primed to become part of a larger clay configuration. As clayface is getting warned away from going near Basil’s trailer, they record the entire conversation and take some pictures of the trailer which Clayface proceeds to send to Victoria October of all people…with no response. I guess that’s not an insane stretch considering she debuted in Tynion’s
Detective comics run where Clayface was featured heavily…giving more precedence to this being the real Clayface. But what does Clayface hope to get from Victoria? I haven’t read that run yet so I only know about her scientific skills from a few off hand appearances.

Clayface takes his older man disguise and goes to the diner where Katie works at to continually try and reach Victoria. He happens to overhear a group of young people talking about Basil Karlo in the neighboring booth, it’s a moment where they have to keep asking if he is the celebrity that did this terrible thing or this other terrible thing…eventually remembering he is the mud monster from Gotham. It leaves Clayface feeling sorry for himself, as at the very least the actor who cussed out a kid in a pediatric ward or the one who owns a closest full of “ww2 memorabilia” in the worst possible way…those actors still get to work. As Katie fills his cup one final time wire her shift comes to an end, he asks what to do when people give up on you. And Katie actually had a ton of insight into this, inviting him outside to talk about the twin sister who refuses to talk to her. Katie used to run track until a hurdle she couldn’t clear snapped her femur, she was given pills for the pain and fells down the addiction rabbit hole of the opioid epidemic. Katie had bad years but got clean, only to find her sister didn’t want to know her anymore. They are literally the same person, but her sister can’t stand her. I can’t help but wonder of this conversation is tipping us off to the reveal of the series, if the actor Basil really is the real Basil as much as our main clayface is. What if they are the same clayface split in two? Katie ends her story by mentioning that it took a million bad choices to break her sister’s trust…maybe it takes a million good ones to get it back. As clayface walks off in his disguise, he gets a notification to watch the video from the start of this issue with the toxic podcaster loosing his mouth. But as he steps away, another man looking just like him steps forward towards Katie…except this one is wearing gloves. She realizes something is wrong and rushes towards the diner, only for the hands to stretch out in a glint mess to pull her back. Yeah I think this story will devolve into clayface vs himself. And now he is going for the people closest to him.

[Madeesonxoxo · Rating 4 out of 5]

“What do you do when people give up on you? When they won’t give you a second chance no matter how much you deserve one. What do you do about that?”

“But it takes a million bad choices to break someone’s trust like that. Maybe it takes a million good ones to get it back again.”

basil all up in maxxxine’s nachos like yo!

[spencer · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Ushnav Shroff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun!

[Dean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cover is great.

The art internally is quite good.
Turns out the other clayface is a serial killer. Who are we following?

[Isaac Lanes · Rating 3 out of 5]

but if a drop off. i’m still enjoying tho

[Annemarie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely better than the first issue. I really liked the interactions between Basil and Katie. We also got some more actual plot, and I am interested to see what is actually going on.

[Myles Gerber · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

[Simeon Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid second installment, I like how the book is starting to play with trope and our expectations of them while also making headway into what the title is really about.

[alejandro galvez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good

Very good series. I hope it goes on for a while. Its a good thing that Clayface gets more time in the limelight. Very underrated.

[Meya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Omggggg this one was so good im seriously having so much fun with Celebrity Dirt!!! I can’t wait for the third one, the vibes are so good

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.2 This has been a fun read so far and is getting me excited to see the movie once it comes out.

[Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

4½⭐

[Steven Shinder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoying the horror aspect.