Unbound #2 from Zenescope

Written by Ralph Tedesco

Artwork done by Oliver Borges

Color by Leonardo Paciarotti .

This series has an interesting concept to say the least. We start off in New York at a Video Game convention were a team of developers proclaim the greatness of their ultra-realistic MMORPG called Ether. When a convention goer questions the safety of the game, the developers quickly assert that the game is 100% safe, but is it?

In Ether you can taste, smell and feel the world around you. You face NPCs as well as PVP combat. Losing a battle to a fellow Ether player is devastating to your character’s progression, but it isn’t supposed to hurt or cause real damage. The problem is a dark and mysterious player, may have found a way to inflict actual pain and bodily damage.

The story follows a player that was defeated in PVP combat and thus must start his character’s progression over. In his haste to level his character back up, Lukas bites off a little more than he can chew with some higher-level NPCs. In this quest he encounters a very strange player who can cause him pain and even prevent him from disconnecting from the game. The only way to stop this person is for Lukas to team up with an unlikely ally.

The story is interesting and draws a lot of parallels to the MMORPG gaming industry of today. It is cool to see that the characters of this book will need to go on a virtual adventure to find the villain who is causing real world harm. I think the concept of a villain who can hurt people in Virtual Reality is kin to Freddy Kruger. This adds a lot of charm to the story. The

writer also does a good job in the dialog. We get to learn a lot with only a few words, which is great in a comic. I give the story of this issue high praise and love the concept.

The artwork is good overall. One drawback is, if something is not the focus in a panel, then it is not given much detail in this book. The coloring is well done and looks good on each page. It is easy to understand, and the panels are arranged well. It just lacks some detail in strategic placed, which is understandable.

Overall, I Give Unbound #2 9 capes out of 10. I love the concept and I think this was a great #2 issue for a series. It sets up the rest of the story to where I have high expectations for the subsequent issues.