by Michael DeLaney

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

Pop culture has taught me that there are two types of robbers: those who do it for fun and those who do it out of necessity. The gang from Ocean’s Eleven get involved in wacky overcomplicated capers because George Clooney’s character wants to stick it to Andy Garcia’s. More often however – and more realistically – people turn to this particular life of crime out of desperation. Dead Rabbit 2 is a prime example of this desperation.

Martin Dobbs returns to his life of crime as Dead Rabbit out of this desperation as his wife’s illness is worsening and her hospital bills are mounting.

$67,000.31. That number right there even hurt me. This nearly-wordless page by John McCrea perfectly embodies Martin’s frustration and desperation. What else is he going to do?

I also like how Martin walks through the parking lot and waits until he is inside his car to let out all of his emotion. How many times have we find ourselves in a similar situation? Your world is falling apart and you don’t want to publicly agonize so you wait until you are in the sanctum sanctorum of your vehicle.

The particulars of a given heist always interest me: the thieves in question case their targeted location, make a game plan and try to anticipate any and all variables. But who wants to see a well-executed plan go off without a hitch? Not Gerry Duggan, that’s who.

For a successful heist, a thief is only as good as his wheelman. And when you are a retired thief and you hire a retired wheelman to assist you…things aren’t exactly going to go as planned.

Martin exits the bank with his bag of cash only to find “Wheels” asleep at the wheel – quite possibly drunk. Wheels literally being asleep at the wheel isn’t where Martin’s problems end however.

Another great sequence by McCrea. It wasn’t enough for the vodka bottle to incapacitate Wheels, it goes and jams up the accelerator like a damned demon bottle from hell. I don’t know if this is what Duggan was going for, but I like the idea of a liquor bottle coming back to screw you over – anyone who has ever had a hangover would probably agree.

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