Ancestral Recall #2 Review

 

Writer: Jordan Clark, Carol Lay & Bryce Ingman

Artist: Atagun İlhan, Carol Lay & Shawn Crystal

Colorist: Pippa Bowland

Letterer: Rob Steen

Publisher: Ahoy Comics

Cover A: Atagun İlhan $4.99

Cover B: Jay Hero $4.99 (1:3 unlock)

Release Date: September 3, 2025

 

Melvin is a world-famous artist. His mind ranges across time to paint scenes relevant to people today. The outside world confuses him. Melvin can’t even visit the local pharmacy without getting lost. But with his wife on bed rest, he takes the prescription and ventures outside.

 

Something strange happens when Melvin enters the pharmacy. Things don’t look right to him. As he passes a sign for the Modern Living Corporation, a woman offers to help him. Melvin tries to show her the prescription but drops it. His neighbor, Myran, picks it up and guides him to the counter.

 

Melvin hates relying on others. But when June vanishes, and he can’t find her again, his teenage neighbor again rushes to his aid. Can Melvin and Myran find his wife? And what role will Petunia, Myran’s animatronic panda, play in Melvin and June’s lives? Let's grab our VR glasses, leap into Ancestral Recall #2, and see!

 

Story

Like forgotten Inkling Charles Williams, Melvin is a dreamer. His wife serves as a buffer between him and the minutiae that keep the modern world spinning. Freed from time-consuming details, Melvin can concentrate on his passion. But when June disappears, all thoughts of painting vanish. Instead of meeting with the Smithsonian, Melvin spends the day searching his neighborhood without rest or sustenance.

 

While Melvin’s thoughts span a vast tapestry of space and time, Myran is a keen observer. The irrepressible teen sees things others miss. She has noticed other neighbors disappear. And she photographed people garbed in MLC coveralls carrying away what looked like a body bag. In Ancestral Recall #2, Myran aids Melvin in his quest to find his wife.

 

At the crux of Jordan Clark’s story is Mitchell Evans, an MIT graduate who founded the Modern Living Corporation. He doesn’t share society’s fears about Artificial Intelligence. Mitchell’s company contributed the software that helps Petunia interact with Myran like a living pet. Yet like Melvin’s mind, Mitchell’s creations span space and time. Perhaps this explains the futuristic robots prowling the streets at night, carrying their neighbors away in body bags.

 

Art

Atagun İlhan paints a convincing portrait of life in near-future Oakland. While his car may seem old-fashioned, it transforms when Melvin envisions a famous ancestor. Like Dorothy and Toto, the woman gets swept up in a tornado summoned by Melvin’s lively hair in Ancestral Recall #2.

 

While Pippa Bowland paints Melvin and Myran’s roadtrip with a loaded palette, she casts June’s adventures beneath a green pall. Like her fellow test subjects, June wears a sleek, dark uniform with a white M emblazoned on her chest. Amid this confining industrial setting, Myran appears clad in her familiar blue jeans and white-and-black crop top. And like Myran, Petunia has matured in Ancestral Recall #2.

 

Rob Steen portrays dialogue with black uppercase letters in white balloons. Jordan Clark’s narration appears as blue uppercase letters in light blue boxes. Vibrant sound effects enhance Melvin’s search for June and her imprisonment in the future. Yet most important is the enlarged text that appears behind Melvin as he studies Myran’s sticker-adorned laptop. Thanks to Ahoy Comics and Superfan Promotions for providing a review copy.

 

Final Thoughts

Adherents insist that artificial intelligence will never replace human ingenuity. Yet as AI-created art proliferates, people craft stories, essays, books, and school reports with this emerging technology. While June finds solace with Myran in the future, Melvin returns the teen’s unflagging support in Ancestral Recall #2.

 

The issue also includes two prose stories. Carol Lay contributes a contemplative and affecting story about inventors and survivor’s guilt in “The Unhappy God of Children”. Then, Bryce Ingman compiles residents’ complaints about local wildlife in the wildly humorous “Animal Control Incident Reports: 437 Red Cedar Lane.”

 

Rating 9.8/10

 

To look inside see my preview of Ancestral Recall #2.

 

For how this series began, see my review of Ancestral Recall #1. 

 

Ancestral Recall #2 Preview

 

Melvin Waring is a famous artist. While he pours his heart and soul into his paintings, his wife functions as his connection to the outside world. But when June goes missing, Melvin must abandon his safety zone to find her. Aided by a teen photographer and her animatronic panda, Melvin will hit the road to find his beloved Junebug. Just one question, Melvin: Do you know how to drive?

Here's all the info:

 

Ancestral Recall #2

Writer: Jordan Clark, Carol Lay & Bryce Ingman

Artist: Atagun İlhan, Carol Lay & Shawn Crystal

Colorist: Pippa Bowland

Letterer: Rob Steen

Publisher: Ahoy Comics

Cover A: Atagun İlhan $4.99

Cover B: Jay Hero $4.99 (1:3 unlock)

Release Date: September 3, 2025

 

 

Painter Melvin Waring sets out to find his missing wife June, and solve a series of supernatural disappearances. He is armed with the literal power of Black history, and aided by a smart but awkward teenage friend. But the futuristic Modern Living Corporation has other plans for June. 

 

This gripping new saga from the two Milestone Initiative members uses science fiction and comedy to explore the importance of Black history, the connections between the past and present, and learning to push through difficult life changes. Jordan Clark's writing credits include Aquaman and Star Wars Adventures. Atagun İlhan's previous projects include Poison Ivy and Milestone Universe: The Shadow Cabinet. 

 

Ancestral Recall #2 also includes two short prose stories. Carol Lay writes and illustrates The Unhappy God of Children. Then, Shawn Crystal illustrates a Bryce Ingman story, Animal Control Incident Reports, which previously appeared in Bronze Age Boogie #1.

 

 

 

Now, let's take a look inside:

 

 

 

 

 

Here's another cover option:

 

 Thanks to Ahoy Comics for sharing this preview with us.

 

Toxie Team-Up #3 Review

 

Writers: Bryce Ingman, Hanna Bahedry & Kek-W

Artists: Sandy Jarrell, Carol Lay & Steve Conley

Colorist: Sandy Jarrell

Letterer & Production: Rob Steen

Publisher: Ahoy Comics

Cover Artists: Fred Harper & Shannon Wheeler

Trading Card Artist: Greg Scott

Price: $3.99/$4.99

Release Date: August 20, 2025

 

Melvin has bought tickets to see the Mix Bros, but Yvonne won't attend the concert. It's not that she dislikes hip-hop. Yvonne refuses to enter the remodeled Troma-Dome while Roger Leeling's name adorns the marquee. For Yvonne, Roger Leeling exhibits the worst of corporate America. She refuses to associate with any man who is making Tromaville a worse place to live. What has gotten Yvonne so riled? And will Melvin attend the concert of his favorite hip-hop band alone? Let’s grab our mops (and earplugs), leap into Toxie Team-Up #3, and see!

 

Fracking Awesome: Story

Despite missing Yvonne, Melvin can't contain his excitement when he enters the renamed Roger Leeling's Awesome Fracking Dome. He can't wait to see his favorite band perform. Melvin inadvertently makes a friend when he calls Acid Chimp a monkey. Trouble rears its distorted head when an earthquake hits Tromaville.

 

In Bryce Ingman’s story, earthquakes and sinkholes have been plaguing Tromaville since Roger Leeling brought his Awesome Fracking business to town. While Yvonne complains in principle about these visual eyesores, the noise from the rigs is getting on her nerves. But Roger Leeling declaims any responsibility for the earthquakes and sinkholes. His Awesome Fracking rigs are reducing Americans’ dependence on foreign oil.

 

Fracking Awesome reminds us that everything we gain comes at a cost. It also forms a sequel to “It’s A Girl,” the five-page story in The Toxic Avenger Pinup Special #1. While reminding us of how the rich and powerful form cults of personality, the comic tale in Toxie Team-Up #3 reminds us of the unifying power of music.

 

Fracking Awesome: Art

Sandy Jarrell portrays Yvonne's ire when she pulls back the drapes. While Rob Steen fills white dialogue balloons with black uppercase text that grow bold for intonation, swells for raised voices, and rarely shrinks, he helps us hear what Yvonne finds so objectionable. Readers see earthquakes with closely aligned art and sound effects. The clash of red and blue may make readers reach for their 3D glasses.

 

Toxie wears his pink shirt bearing the lead singer’s face until Acid Chimp splashes him with a vial of green acid. His pink shirt links him with the maroon seats and the strip of purple infrastructure supporting an upper section of seats. The acid also links with Toxie's skin, forming a further connection between the new friends. The dark blue marque sporting yellow letters gets a neon makeover when another earthquake occurs. Like Captain Kirk and Mr Spock, Toxie and Acid Chimp venture into the darkness in Toxie Team-Up #3.

 

The Daily Jed, Episode 117: Entering The Snakepit

Jed Weldon wants to share his insights with you. Today’s technology reduces the barriers, allowing anyone to become a trusted news source. This second story in Toxie Team-Up #3 reminds us that in the competitive environment, “news” providers can easily spice up their "unbiased views" with conspiracy theories. Hanna Bahedry’s story forms a corollary to Roger Leeling’s view of the world in Fracking Awesome. Carol Lay’s drawing symbolizes the dilemma that prompts Jed’s latest bout of watered-down journalism.

 

A Brief History of Science Fiction

The narrator displays a reverence for his ability to spin a yarn as he rewrites Human history through the lens of classic novels and popular movies. His ability to twist the truth in delightful ways recalls Ash Williams' compelling watchability. Steve Conley provides a drawing that perfectly illustrates Kek-W's story.

 

As the narrator closes out this final story in Toxie Team-Up #3, he forms a triumphant trio with Jed Weldon and Roger Leeling. They may evoke the Japanese pictoral maxim "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil." But please, don't call them the three monkeys! Thanks to Ahoy Comics and Superfan Promotions for providing a review copy.

 

Final Thoughts

Toxie Team-Up #3 delivers a triple dose of fun. The comic tale muses on our complicity in corporate and governmental corruption, while also reminding us of our responsibility to care for our delicately balanced ecosystem. The short stories likewise provoke introspection while delivering a healthy dose of laughs straight from unhealthy (but always compelling) Tromaville.

 

Rating 9.4/10

 

To look inside, see my preview of Toxie Team-Up #3.

 

To check out Matt Bors' story "It's A Girl," see my review of The Toxic Avenger Pinup Special #1.