reMIND: Volume 2

I'm just going to review the series as a whole.

reMIND is weird. It starts out weird. It ends weirder. I do not understand how talking cats, Lizard men, giant sea anemones, brain transplants, and steampunk suits fit together. Jason Brubaker does, though, and his story is one of the most original comics I've had the pleasure of reading. It's another one I pulled off my sister's shelf when I was staying with her over the summer and then jumped on the kickstarter campaign for volume 2. It arrived a couple weeks ago (I have #419 of 1500), and I finally had time to sit down and read it.

The story in its base elements is pretty simple: a mad king betrays his daughter and his people while a young prince must fight back. However, those people are lizards and the betrayal involves switching lizard brains into people's house pets and also a religious rapture event is taking place under the waves. I love the twists on a solid storyline, and I particularly like Sonja's reactions to everything. If I had a complaint about this story, it's that there isn't enough Sonja. Also, what happens to her real cat? I am a cat person. You lose a star for not saving the real kitty

The book is absolutely beautiful, and the kickstarter funds were truly used to create a work of art. Brubaker's style is unique, almost like watercolors with none of the overly photoshopped feel you find in a lot of modern graphic novels. The pages flow seemlessly, and the space is never wasted. I sometimes have a hard time reading graphic novels because I speed read the text and forget to stop and look at the panels. That's not an issue with this book. The art is eye-catching enough to calm even the most ADHD of brains.

Highly recommended for people who love a weirdly beautiful story.