Head Lopper Vol. 2 - Head Lopper and the Crimson Towerby Sheena McNeilReviews may contain information that could be considered 'spoilers'. Readers should proceed at their own risk. Publisher
Credits Grade: 10 Norgal, the Head Lopper, joins Zhaania and her student as they try to defeat the challenges of the Crimson Tower and find her family. Other warriors are trying their luck, too, as well as a couple of boys who find themselves accidently included and in harm's way.Another fantastic, fun, and exciting adventure full of monsters and fierce battles! I'm definitely a fan. Volume 2 can be enjoyed as a stand-alone, but it does tie back to the first volume while providing character growth, even though the overarching plot movement is minimal. I love that this volume picks up after the last in that Norgal is travelling with Zhaania to help her with this quest because she rescued him ... but that some amount of time has passed, enough for Zhaania to have acquired and partially trained a student-warrior. We're left with our imagination to explain how they found this other warrior and how they ended up on a ship fighting pirates! We do get to know Zhaania better as she deals with her own arc of missing family members, and her own guilt and fear related to that. Interesting, this frees her from herself, and she makes a move on Norgal! It's insightful, but also used for humor thanks to Agatha's commentary that implies what we don't see on the page. And the close of the volume is wonderful in that it shows us how important Zhaania was to Norgal / how much he respected her and loved her -- it makes for a perfect ending. Agatha's role is deceptively small. She sort of helps defeat one enemy and is otherwise seemingly there for comic relief as she interacts with the two non-warriors. However, Ulrich (the main boss to be defeated) wants Agatha for his head collection and for her powers, which makes her a plot point, further interacting with one of the non-warriors. It's a great sub-plot that builds up otherwise minor characters and makes the story itself richer. The non-warriors are really the most interesting. They are from a race of beings who worship the Crimson Tower. Their chosen warrior is killed quickly. A series of events leads one young kid to enter the Tower with the warriors, his older brother chasing him to stop him. The younger one, Bik, seems to be autistic (or something similar, as I'm not sure what exactly the creator was going for here), and it showcases him with quite a range! Bik is a wandering child, who doesn't like to wear clothes or talk. He befriends Agatha, interestingly, and tries to give her a flower and play with her hair. He does things by accident, and falls down when he sneezes, which adds some humor, especially since these actions are usually plot-important! And he gets extremely focused when he realizes others need help, and he can tell what needs to be done and tries to do it, saving the fight a couple times! He's really a fascinating character. His big brother, Twerpal, obviously loves his brother and doesn't mind taking care of him. He understands how things really are, while his people are too simplified and superstitious. He really steps up, embracing bravery and becoming a warrior (Bik, too, to a degree!), and he's stuck with the toughest moral choice of the volume, which he handles marvelously. Like Volume 1, there are only a couple of well-placed curse words. Also like volume one, I love the natural inclusion of so many female characters, especially in surprising roles; the cast is actually balanced quite well, which makes the read more enjoyable. The art is a unique style that will appeal to fans of Adventure Time, but it's much more simplified, especially on facial expressions. I do wish we saw more of Norgal's face rather than one white blob of hair with a couple lines for eyes and mouth, but it makes the panels where we do see his face, stand out as important. This comic is lots of fun to read and it engages me on several levels. I am definitely looking forward to more stories about Head Lopper. Written: April 9, 2018
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