Writer: John Ridley
Artist: Stefano Raffaele
Colorist: Brad Anderson
Letterer: Ariana Maher
Cover Artists: Stefano Raffaele and Brad Anderson; Ryan Sook; Tim Leong
Publisher: IDW
Price: $4.99
Release Date: January 3, 2024
Aliens have pushed Earth to the breaking point. Their agents have infiltrated all aspects of society. Yet those overseeing Earth’s absorption have grown soft. After the Minister Of Finance tries to assassinate her, Avigail wants answers. As the Minister Of Compliance, can the sword-wielding voice of Homeworld maintain control of her fellow Ministers? Or will the Earthers kill the aliens? Let's leap into The Ministry Of Compliance #2 and find out!
Story
After thirty-nine years embedded in Earth’s society, many Ministers have grown corrupt. They behave like oligarchs and have forgotten their duty to serve. Instead of helping Earthers discover a better way of life, they’ve learned from them. The corrupt alien leaders worship the rich, powerful, and influential and regard those who serve society as worthless.
Aided by her friend Mathías, her assistant Quinn, and her recruit Kingsley, Avigail intends to change that. First, she must secure the launch codes and find the secreted spaceships. The Transportation Minister in London guarded the codes, but Earther assassins killed him. Quinn gets a lead on the assassins' location. If he and Avigail capture and question them, can they prevent the assassins from detonating the bombs implanted in their bodies?
While their judgments seem harsh, John Ridley makes you care about the subversive alien agents in The Ministry Of Compliance #2. It seems strange to admire someone like Avigail, who dismisses employees for a single mistake and kills people in brutal ways. We more readily sympathize with Kingsley, the Biracial who cannot leave Earth, as she holds no citizenship on Homeworld. While Avigail trusts the girl to work for her, Kingsley also feels loyal to Isaiah, another child of two worlds. She's a double agent trying to decide where she belongs. Hopefully, she'll decide before Avigail discovers Kingsley's duplicity, unsheathes her sword, and puts the girl in compliance!
Art
The Shard rises above London’s gleaming nightlife. Couches and easy chairs in a plush, immense flat lead to a dining table on a terrace. Kingley’s not wild about her tight-fitting gray and black outfit, but Avigail wants her to look stunning. They cross the opulent lobby. Quinn awaits them by a gleaming Range Rover. Peach and violet color the night sky as the trio embarks, but the sky reveals little color when they reach a condemned neighborhood.
A runner emerges from the languishing locale. The red leaking from his severed arm shocks Kingsley as much as his attack. The captured assassin is bound to a chair. A face on a cell phone brightens the dimly lit room. Surrounded by blue-green tile walls, he spills red into the room during questioning. Brad Anderson’s limited palette highlights characters and compliments Stefano Raffaele's highly detailed artwork in The Ministry of Compliance #2.
Colorful and lively sound effects complement the large black uppercase letters in white dialogue balloons. Like the assassin's severed arm, these sounds shock Kingsley. Ariana Maher’s easily readable dialogue and Avigail’s passion for her cause make The Ministry Of Compliance #2 disturbing and compelling. Thanks to IDW for providing a copy for review.
Final Thoughts
A Biracial woman struggles to cope with the terrors and brutality of being a double agent and understand the dangers aliens pose to Humanity in The Ministry Of Compliance #2.
Rating 9.6/10
To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.
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