“Up until this point Rain had been a relatively direct adaptation of the source material, but this issue was a welcome change, and one that’s got me looking forward to seeing what other surprises the creative team have in store now that they’ve begun to put their own spin on Joe Hill’s story.”
Story by: Joe Hill
Adapted by: David M. Booher
Art by: Zoe Thorogood
Colours by: Chris O’Halloran
Letters by: Shawn Lee
The ending of Rain #2 was the first major deviation from Joe Hill’s original novella. While we’d seen some small changes previously, Templeton Blake catching up with Honeysuckle and her new friend Marc DeSpot en route to Denver was the first major difference.
Templeton is a great, adorable character and it’s great to see him again in this issue. As much as he lightens the mood by adding a child sized Dracula to the group he also asks some valid questions about how the world will carry on without regular rain. They’re simple questions but as Marc mentions it shows a kid wise beyond his age.
Although the start of the issue is a departure from the source material there’s certainly a sense of familiarity to a lot of the other scenes within this issue, words might be said by different characters and events unfold in a slightly different manner, but it never strays too far.
Don’t get me wrong this is a good issue, though as the middle point in the series it does feel like it’s spent setting up what’s to come next more than anything else. There’s some information presented that will undoubtedly be important in the issues to come, though it does feel like to say too much would be to give you a summary and some pointless spoilers. I will however say that the cliffhanger at the end of this issue left me curious as to what will come next, it’s another variation from the novella Rain is based on and I feel like it could be an interesting change.
Zoe Thorogood’s artwork still remains a major highlight for me. We’ve brought up on some previous podcast episodes that some artists draw children as nothing more than small adults, but that’s far from the case with Templeton, he’s believably an eight year old boy and that says a lot about Thorogood’s skill as an artist. There’s also a maintained sense of emotion throughout the issue which is excellently depicted through facial expressions, and much as I mentioned in the first issue, the more violent moments still take me completely by surprise. An impressive feat in a book where there’s literally nails raining from the sky.
Up until this point Rain had been a relatively direct adaptation of the source material, but this issue was a welcome change, and one that’s got me looking forward to seeing what other surprises the creative team have in store now that they’ve begun to put their own spin on Joe Hill’s story.
Bigger Than Capes 