The Warden #2

Review copy provided by the publisher.

Title: The Warden
Issue: 2
Date: 2025
Publisher: Ironclad Comics
Writer: David Timm Jr., Cody Karamol
Penciller: Mathieu Pereira
Inker: Mathieu Pereira
Colorist: Roman Stevens
Letterer: Jimmy Greenhalgh
Cover: Jonny Wise

Somewhat surprisingly, the kidnapping plotline from the first issue gets resolved off-screen. This is one of those things that shouldn't work, but it does, as we go straight to the reactions of the various cast members as it becomes apparent that a (possibly superhuman) vigilante is fighting crime in Detroit. There's also another flashback sequence as the origin of our vigilante begins to take shape.

Emma Summers is back with her newspaper as she senses that the vigilante story might be just the thing she's been looking for. Henry Hunt confesses his sins, and Detective Cabello is in full uptight-cop mode.

The final action sequence is really good, and a nice look at what we can expect as we see more of the Detroit vigilante in future stories. 

All the storytelling here was nice and tight, without too much new being introduced. Instead, we got a bit more time to get to know the main characters, which was nice. The story is developing nicely, but still needs to find what distinguishes it from similar tales of masked vigilantes that have been a standard of comics since the 1930s (and the pulps before that). The story also is now seeking a new villain, as the vigilante can't just stick to beating up random robbers forever. That being said, this  issue laid some very necessary groundwork delivered a bit of a plot twist up front, and kept the pacing while still developing characters.

Rating: 6.5/10