‘American Carnage #2’ (review)

Written by Bryan Hill
Illustrated by Leandro Fernandez
Published by DC Comics/Vertigo

The first issue of this series was quite a shocker and ended with one of the best cliffhangers I have read in some time. This issue picks right up where that left off and goes even deeper than I ever expected.

Writer Bryan Hill reaches deep here and pushes his writing work farther than we have ever seen from him before.

FBI Agent Richard Wright is a white-passing African American who has infiltrated a white supremacist group. In the opening scene, he is amongst them trying to find the leader, who is named Wynn Morgan.

Watching Wright navigate this nest of vipers is harrowing and even a bit scary. The art by Leandro Fernandez doesn’t hold back on the graphic and cruel nature of this organization. It also doesn’t hold back on that quiet emotion on Wright’s face.

Wright quickly gets into a brawl with some of the natives. He learns that is how they welcome you to their ranks. That fight for supremacy is a brutal one to watch. He wins the fight and gets his opponent to yield. But it all leads to him getting scolded and then brought to Wynn Morgan’s office.

Morgan hands him a book by Malcolm X. He tells Richard that he has read the book and that Richard should read it as well. He also sends him packing and tells him that Richard should do better to impress him next time he comes by.

Richard then meets up with his FBI contacts. He has to try another way to get in. By the end of the book, he seems to have found the way. But man, it’s terrifying and dark. I can’t believe Hill is being brave enough to take us there.

This is one hell of a book. I think everyone over the age of 17 should take a peek at this. It’s a comic book that doesn’t shy away from dark and disturbingly relevant material. And that in itself, is something quite commendable.

RATING: A