by Mark Mitchell 

This article contains SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, read on at your own risk!

In our discussion of Cloudia and Rex 1, I praised creators Ulises Farinas, Erick Freitas, and Daniel Irizarri for their honest portrayal of a grieving family in extraordinary circumstances, and their work continues to sing in this second act. I’m especially taken with their ability to deftly inject humor into the darker moments of the issue, like when Death sends Cloudia a text message posing as a boy she likes that reads, “Hello, would you mind engaging in a phone speak?” The fine line they walk between making Cloudia an honest-sounding selfish, reluctant teenager, but still relatable and likable is, frankly, remarkable.

As the second part of a compressed, three issue mini-series, the action here tends to be breathless with very little explanation given for some of the more transformative moments. What exactly is happening as Cloudia is sucked up into the middle of the World Tree during her first confrontation with Tohil? Is Cloudia and Rex’s mom suddenly imbued with otherworldly power because she feels protective of her daughters or for some other reason? I genuinely can’t tell you. But the blurry details don’t detract from Cloudia and Rex’s solid foundation built on a universal story of love, survival, and loss. I can’t wait to see how it concludes.

The conversation doesn’t stop there. What do you wanna talk about from this issue?