Napalm Lullaby #2 Review

 

Writer: Rick Remender

Artist: Bengal

Letterer: Rus Wooton

Cover Artists: Bengal & Dave Guertin

Publisher: Image

Price: $3.99

Release Date: April 10, 2024

 

A baby operating alien armor appears in a burst of light. Three soldiers also materialize and pursue him. After he kills his enemies, a Human couple finds the child and takes it home. Fifty years later, the Church Of Glokar rules our world. Sam and Sarah want to free Humanity from Glokar’s dominance. But can the teens accomplish such a monumental task? Let’s leap into Napalm Lullaby #2 and find out!

 

Story

Norfolk, Nebraska, is home to a brilliant Crystal Temple. An energy shield protects the skyscrapers surrounding the gleaming architectural beacon, while most of the population inhabits a multistory shantytown of old residential, commercial, and industrial buildings. People conform to Glokor’s religious rule in the hopes of bettering their social and economic status, while the poor feast on fried cricket stew for dinner.

 

Sam and Sarah's father once served in the temple. He escaped, but their mother remained behind. For a short time, the Crystal Temple will allow pilgrims to enter. Entrants hope to spend the rest of their lives inside. Their father doesn’t want to return, but Sam and Sarah wish to see their mother. They're also tired of the world they inhabit.

 

Napalm Lullaby #2 tackles the generation gap. Or should I say the generation chasm? Their father sends them out on missions to procure relics. He safeguards the treasures they find for future generations. Sam and Sarah see their home as a mausoleum, full of dead things that cannot make today better for anyone.

 

In Napalm Lullaby #2, Rick Remender asks: What if Kal-El used his superhuman abilities to transform Earth into his ideal society? We saw suggestions of this in Zach Snyder's Man Of Steel, where young Clark Kent read Plato’s Republic. But Glokor wasn't raised by Jonathan and Martha Kent, who urged young Clark to let Human society choose its path. Instead, Glokor came to Brenda and Paul, two protestors against anti-liberal causes.

 

Sam and Sarah’s childhood inside the temple granted them superhuman abilities. They’ve secured halos from murdered priests. They want to sneak into the Crystal Temple, find their mother, kill Glokor, and free the world from his religious oppression. Assuming they survive, what will Sarah and Sam do with their superhuman abilities then? Let their fellow Humans choose how they live? Or will they, as agents of change, forge a new and better society for everyone to inhabit?

 

 

Art

Bengal imbues Sam and Sarah with anime appeal in Napalm Lullaby #2. Sam and Sarah ride through narrow streets on an old motorcycle and sidecar. Children play in the dirt while workers stride past beggars and vendors manning stalls sheltered by awnings. An eyeball named Rufus greets Sam and Sarah from a panel beside their front door. After scanning their identities, the eyeball lets the brother and sister inside.

 

Art and relics clutter rooms and hallways. Space hardly seems at a premium in this makeshift future, or at least in Sam and Sarah’s home. Paintings and relics like the front of a classic car and a McDonald’s symbol adorn walls, while old TV sets, action figures, toys, and CDs fill shelves. A carved Greek statue shares a room with a bust of Marilyn Monroe and the upper half of C3PO, while books fill shelves and arise like Ghostbuster-arranged stacks from the floor. Their father awaits their return in an easy chair near a defunct arcade game stuffed with potted plants. Clad in a helmet adorned with aviator goggles and a shirt of chain mail festooned with medals, he reads an Ernest Hemingway novel by candlelight, surrounded by—yes, you guessed it—more books.

 

Reds, yellows, and browns dominate Napalm Lullaby #2, yet Bengal lavishes touches of others to suggest a spectrum of color. Bengal lavishes special care upon lighting, which streams into rooms dramatically. Sam’s powers also manifest as light. They hint at the clown mask he sometimes wears. The angrier Sam gets, the hotter the light grows. Note: don’t make this guy angry!

 

Rus Wooton fills white dialogue balloons with small uppercase black lettering. Inflection and raised voices enlarge and embolden the words. His sound effects help us hear Sam plunk his bag of stolen halos on the table and his anger erupting amid his father's lifework.

 

Thanks to Image Comics and Giant Generator for providing an issue for review.

 

Final Thoughts

In a future where most of humanity lives in slums, dreams can become reality, and thought crimes can get you killed in Napalm Lullaby #2.

 

Rating 9.2/10

 

To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.