Welcome to Tranquility, Vol. 2

Welcome to Tranquility #2

by Gail Simone, Neil Googe (Illustrator)

Tranquility, a town where superheroes retire and enjoy their golden years, sees a string of bizarre murders occur while an enigmatic television show host appears in the town.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics, Dc Comics, Fantasy, Adult

144 pages, Paperback

First published May 20, 2008

About the author

Gail Simone is a comic book writer well-known for her work on Birds of Prey (DC), Wonder Woman (DC), and Deadpool (Marvel), among others, and has also written humorous and critical commentary on comics and the comics industry such as the original "Women in Refrigerators" website and a regular column called "You'll All Be Sorry".

Reviews

[Aidan]

This felt like it unraveled as it went, I was very intrigued by the set up and the addition of some darker lore, and the initial flashback backups contributed to that, delivering some horrifying back stories to understand the motivation of several characters. But the rest of the story felt really uneven with plot developments seemingly happening at random. The Black Gliders introduction at the start of this arc was really exciting, but his return into Tommy‘s life in the middle of the climax of the story was clunky and not properly explained, nor where he’s been or what he’s been up to. We get a traumatic reason for why he left, but not why he stayed away, and Tommy herself seems totally disinterested in all this, but other characters, force these revelations on her for what feel like unmotivated plot reasons. Tommy as the our lead protagonist spends most of this story receiving exposition and not actually doing anything.

The backups also get weaker and feel more unnecessary in the latter half, taking up space that could’ve been used to improve pacing in the main story. The Mangacide one is particularly stupid with some possibly misplaced queer subtext. It follows a “tomboy“ who says she’s “opposite oriented“ and doesn’t enjoy wearing regular girl’s clothing, but then it turns out she’s just a closeted white weeb! I’m not even exaggerating. Her “opposite orientation” referred to the reading direction of manga, and her discomfort with her appearance is solved by dressing like a anime schoolgirl and learning how to speak Japanese. Was the setup meant to invoke queerness, or just several poor wording choices from Simone? It could work well if the character was actually queer in this conservative town, who then found comfort in manga, but the climax has her kiss a boy so that’s out the window. Either way, the current story reads as if it equates being a fan of manga with coming out of the closet, which feels a little insulting.

[Alex Sarll]

Gail Simone's series about the town to which superhumans retire continues, but where the first volume was reasonably focused, this one is trying to fill out the world – somewhat in vain, given cancellation (albeit followed by a concluding miniseries) was waiting right behind it. So we get a Mephistophelian maker of deals with a sting in the tail, and a zombie uprising, doled out in tiny chunks because most of the issues have one or even two back-up strips exploring the supporting characters. Nor does it help that, even with so many artists involved on all those little tales, the majority of the art is of precisely the style most guaranteed to look dated right now – the noughties point at which nineties gigantism was trying to lighten up and loosen out, but which with hindsight mainly looks weird and wonky, like somebody gave Humberto Ramos too much Sunny D.

[The_Mad_Swede · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set after the events of the first volume, this volume presents us with another arc, which I think holds up even better than the first one (even though it obviously needs to be said that it obviously rests very comfortably on the work done in the preceding volume, both in terms of setting up the place and characters, and providing some foundational plot elements to boot). This time it is no mere murder mystery, but the threat of a greater magnitude that looms at the proverbial horizon, as the history of the town is starting to catch up with it ... and perhaps even a zombie invasion may be in the wings.

All things considered, I would probably give this three and half stars, but strong enough for me to round upwards.

[Sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

This series has all the components for a successful book but I just didn't like it. Simone's normal humor is so off here. The inclusion of backup stories in each issue actually take away from the story, which needs more substance. The art is nice but not enough to make up for the haphazard story. Overall, a severe disappointment.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a series of shorter stories that flesh out the characters backgrounds a little more. Not as grand a story as the first arc, but it serves a different purpose and sets the stage well for volume 3.

[Sean Goh · Rating 4 out of 5]

The out-of-towners are a bit hard to keep track of, but the final fight was suitably climatic.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than I hoped

[Dani Shuping · Rating 3 out of 5]

We come back to the town of Tranquility, not to long after the events of the 1st novel ended. Emoticon is still in jail and flirting with the Sheriff and a new player has moved into town. A demon simply known as "The Host." And he's come to take back what belongs to him. And he'll stop at nothing to get it. Can this town of retired superheroes stand up to him and save their home? Or will they be overrun by the dead.

The story in this volume is a bit easier to follow, although they still do intersperse the volume with stories about the other characters which can be a bit distracting at times. Thankfully, we get to find out the backstory on the sheriff's father (which plays a rather large role in this story.) But...it still feels like we've got moments in the story where we have to stop and figure out what's going on. It still just feels like it could have been arranged a bit differently to present a more cohesiveness. I still wonder who some of the characters are that show up, such as "the tourists." They just don't have a background that's given. The artwork is decent enough, nothing really spectacular or amazing stands out about it, but it does work well for the story.

In short it's an interesting addition to the superhero genre and does have some creative, entertaining characters...and while its improving I wonder if future volumes will be any better. Still I'm likely to give the third volume a try. But not much more of a chance if that one falters.

[Michael Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

This second compilation of six original comics comes out a little better than the first collection, mostly because it consists largely of origin stories for the main characters in the series. Zombie Zeke, a direct steal from the Crypt-Keeper, began as an Elvis-type rocker who signed a pact with a demon. Sheriff Thomasina was a wild child who couldn’t deal with family issues and got into too many fights in school. Emoticon (one of Simone’s more original inventions) was corrupted by his Bad Guy grandfather, the Typist. And so on. The Liberty Snots, a younger gang of goth-type “heroes,” gets a few back stories, too. But the narrative is still pretty much all over the place, as if the original story was twice as long and they only printed every other page. The art is okay but nothing special. I’ll give this series an “E” for effort, but not much more.

[Cale · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book continues from the first, dealing with some of the aftermath while introducing a new big bad. The book is a bit muddled, lots of different sub-stories in classic comic styles. But they all come together to build into a massive climax. I was really unimpressed until the final issue, when the pieces fall together really well. The villain is suitably dastardly, and plays it up, and more than in the first volume you find yourself rooting for lots of individuals while seeing the community working together as a whole.

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one takes a while for the plot to kick into high gear. Artistically, it unexpectedly looks like it's drawn in a non-mainstream style. That is, the art doesn't really compare to most of the art seen on a Wildstorm title, but rather it looks like it would fit just with, say, a Viper comic's comic book.

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this series so much!!! I'm such a freakin fangirl for it. Love all the characters. Favorites right now are Tommy, Ajita, Minxy, Cosmos, Mongoose Man, Captain Cobra, Zeke, Slapjack and most of all Mangacide (even though she only has a small role). I know there is only one more volume left but I loooove this series so much.

[Jdetrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

The plotting becomes even looser in this volume, but the trade off is more world building, and it's a fascinating world that's being built. I would happily read more of this series if it was revived.

[Ingenue · Rating 4 out of 5]

I continue to have a deep abiding CFUD-style affection for Emoticon in all his lolspeak glory. SO MARRIED. >:D >:D >:D

[Alisa Kester · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the characters.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Horray for zombies!

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

The series really hits its stride in this volume now that we've got to know the characters and the pace. The "back issues" also seem better integrated than in the previous volume.

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun series with a different twist on the whole superhero comic thing.

[Dony Grayman]

Edición original USA, tomo 2 del que terminaría siendo un total de 3.