The Urchin is loose in New York and has taken out the Reed, Sue, and Johnny of the Fantastic Four. Can Sparrow, Iron First, and The Thing gather allies and contain it? Find out in Contagion #2 by Marvel Comics!

CONTAGION #2 (OF 5)

Writer: Ed Brisson
Artist: Stephen Segovia
Colorist: Veronica Gandini
Letterer: VC’s Cory Petit
Editor: Jake Thomas
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: October 9th, 2019

Previously on Contagion: Sparrow has figured out an ancient creature known as The Urchin has escaped K’un-Lun and escaped  into New York. The Thing was the first to encounter the Urchin and after calling the rest of the Fantastic Four for backup; Reed, Sue, and Johnny have been infected by him. Additionally, the Urchin is able to absorb their powers making him more powerful! Sparrow has contacted Iron Fist to begin searching for The Urchin and they begin looking for the fungus infected people.

AN UNTOUCHABLE VILLAIN

Iron First and Sparrow watches The Thing carrying the rest of the infected Fantastic Four and is intending to take them to Dr. Strange. Danny Rand calls in his friend and partner Luke Cage to help track this monster. Doctor Strange and The Thing believe that they cannot save the people infected without Patient Zero and have opted to keep the Avengers on standby in fear that the Urchin will absorb their powers. Iron Fist, Sparrow, and Luke Cage are able to track The Urchin after he attacks a paramedic and a fight between the two forces begins! Doctor Strange and The Thing arrive and Doctor Strange sets up a barrier to prevent the Urchin from escaping. However, the Urchin proves to be the heroes match until Cloak and Dagger comes in to assist. Cloak takes The Urchin to the dark dimension but was able to escape and infect Luke Cage, Dagger, and Dr. Strange! The villainous Urchin then turns his intention onto the rest of the heroes.

DUOS AND TEAMS TORN APART

In the first issue, we explored The Thing losing his team to this creature. In the second issue, Dagger and Luke Cage is separated from their dynamic duo. People love to see heroes torn apart from their counterpart and observing how they react. This is a good premise but it has been done before over and risks running the same plot that has already been written. I really really liked this book. It was a comfortable read that tells a good story and showed great characterization of each hero presented. I just have a slight hesitation about continuing on because I would rather read a new story then an old one. 

As an aside, I love the older Luke Cage who is married with a kid. Every time I see him and Jessica Jones interact I get a sense of satisfaction that these disturbed characters can get closure in each other. Now I know that that this has been in comics for a while; knowing that Luke Cage is infected and he is a father to a young kid really tugs at my heart. I have a very young daughter so this plot is directly applicable to me. But I hope the next issue focuses on family relationships as well as the superhero team relationships.

MAN… LUKE CAGE IS MUSCULAR 

The art in this issue was done very well but there seems to be a specific emphasis on how the characters are shaped. Each main character pops out of the page and you can see each aspect of their body and costume seem really defined. This style seems fairly standard in modern Marvel comics and it is a stylistic choice to make the colors and the ink really pop out from the background. I think for this book, I wanted to see more of The Urchin and the spreading of the contagion/fungus within the art work. With the characters so pronounced it is difficult to look past them and see what is happening in the background. With that thought, they did their artistic choice very well and the art is worth the price of admission in this book.

BOTTOM LINE: GOOD SERIES AND GOOD CAST

I admit that I love this cast of characters. Cloak and Dagger, Luke Cage, and Iron First are some of my favorite characters in any form of fiction. I picked this up for because Iron First and Luke Cage was on the cover and am glad to see the appearance of the rest of the cast. The story is good even if we trend on repeating ideas and it is fantastically drawn. 3 and a half stars out of 5 for Contagion #2 by Marvel Comics.