Doctor Spektor: Master Of The Occult #2

By Mark Waid, Neil Edwards, & Jordan Boyd

The characters struggle to recuperate from a supernatural experience that took the life of their friend, Lenny. Doctor Spektor: Master Of The Occult #2 opens with this very theme as Abby and Spektor struggle with what they saw the day of Lenny’s death, and what they continue to see everyday. This series is all about the supernatural and the unexplained, which is the prime focus of this issue. From page to page, we switch between the present and “an hour ago” as the unexplained continues to get a hold of our characters, mess with their heads, and make them question what is real and what is not. As a reader, this is absolutely enthralling as everything we see in the comic makes us second guess its authenticity as well, keeping us on our toes (so to speak).

Dealing with the supernatural allows limitless potential for the types of stories that can be told, and writer Mark Waid (Daredevil, Kingdom Come) looks to explore every one of them. Waid has created a great story in Doctor Spektor that is an absolute page turner, but not through action, explosions, or end-of-the-world intensity. Instead he does so through the characters and their everyday problems, which, in this case, are a little more paranormal than usual. This series, just two issues in, raises the bar as to how a story can be told through seemingly simplistic situations, without the need for fighting or  bloodshed. Some questions raised early in issue #1 remains present here: who is the woman Spektor sees in his dreams, and how is she connected to all these strange occurrences? Hopefully the answer isn’t revealed next month, because this mystery has been too good to give away just yet.

The creative art team of Neil Edwards and Jordan Boyd continues the excellent work seen last month. Edwards’ art excels in this issue with very little action, forcing him to focus on the character moments, and he completely delivers. He has to draw the reader in and keep them looking even with page after page of just characters and their conversations, but his art is so good, with a classic style to it, that he has no difficulty keeping the reader’s attention. Boyd’s colors shine, even in the quiet scenes with every skin, piece of fabric, or object colored realistically, adding a whole new layer to the art, heightening the book’s overall visual quality.

With the art team on top of their game, and a great script to start from, Doctor Spektor: Master Of The Occult continues the stories introduced in its premiere issue and creates even new layers to the story widening what can be accomplished in the series. Waid succeeds, as he normally does, in creating a great second installment that looks to only improve this series moving forward.