Serena finds herself in the middle of her latest investigation. Who is Sprout, what is she up to, and how far is she willing to go? Find out in Klik Klik Boom #2 from Image Comics!
KLIK KLIK BOOM #2
Writer: Doug Wagner
Artist: Doug Dabbs
Colorist: Matt Wilson
Letterer: Ed Dukeshire
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: July 26, 2023
Previously in Klik Klik Boom: Sprout, who is mute, has left her life off the grid to avenge her grandfather. She goes to New York where she goes about her day leaving a trail of Polaroids behind her. Lately, she walks into businesses that are part of Minerva World Services, waves a gun around, and leaves pictures of her smiling grandfather. Serena Biggs, a podcaster and journalist, is obsessed with investigating her. She decides to go straight to Minerva and ask them directly. Instead, they send her away and arrange for some thugs to “negotiate” with her. Before they can hurt her, Sprout beats them up. Serena has landed front and center in her story.
INTO THE HUNTER’S AMBUSH
Klik Klik Boom #2 opens as a group of armed men enter the hotel where Sprout is staying and show the man at the desk a photo of two women. He tells them she rented all the rooms. They make plans to clear the entire building. In Sprout’s room, Serena starts to panic as the other woman calmly goes through her photos and even takes a picture of the two of them. One of the other pictures puzzles Serena, one of Sprout’s grandfathers lying on the floor.
This takes us to another flashback. Sprout took that picture after her grandfather had a rough night. He is also surrounded by photographs. He was a photojournalist in Vietnam. When his dreams get bad, he needs his photos to help calm him. He also tells her something he feels is important – that photos never lie.
Back at the hotel, the armed men split up. Two of them spot a photo on the floor, the latest selfie of Sprout and Serena. One of them reaches for it. He falls through a hole in the floor, and the other is pushed out of a window. Sprout has had time to set some impressive booby traps.
She then puts Serena against the wall and indicates that she should not move. She leaves the room. A noise triggers one of the gunmen who lets loose with a semi-automatic as a tripwire catches him and drags him away. The bullets strike all around Serena, but none of them hie her. Another man enters the room where Serena stands in shock and raises his gun but Sprout pops through a hole in the ceiling and dispatches him. Serena is in near hysterics.
Sprout indicates that she is after a man named Harvard Dillinger. She takes Serena to her next hide-out, a run-down warehouse that has already been booby-trapped. Serena is momentarily distracted by Sprout’s bunny before starting to ask questions, such as where is she from? Sprout responds with a photo of the woods. Sprout remembers her grandfather teaching her to set traps and avoid ambushes. When Serena asks why she is doing this, Sprout shows her a photo of Dillinger holding a gun to her grandfather’s head.
This is very serious business, Serena realizes. But she knows someone, a judge, who may be able to help them. Sprout agrees to go, but she wants to change her look before they do.
DELIGHT AND TERROR
The art of Klik Klik Boom #2 starts to show us more of Sprout’s character. We still see her smiling her large, open smile. She looks relaxed, even calm, as she goes about her preparations. Does she think this is fun? Considering the extent of her traps, and the fact that she changes them daily, this does not seem likely. But there are also moments where she looks deadly serious. Perhaps she is enjoying life, but she is perfectly well aware of its dangers. She has taken her grandfather’s lessons to heart.
The ambush scenes are clever. There are a couple panels where the trap seems a little confusing, but we rapidly get into the rhythm of how each one is designed to incapacitate an enemy. Having Serena as a witness to the action, including as unwitting bait, heightens the drama and makes each trap seem more exciting.
BOTTOM LINE: FASCINATING GAME OF CAT AND MOUSE
Klik Klik Boom #2 pairs up two vastly different young women. Sprout has saved Serena’s life, but Serena may be able to help Sprout on her mission. Was their meeting truly serendipitous?
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Klik Klik Boom #2
Sprout is not just breezing through the city taking photos; she is busy setting up a complicated ambush for a murderer.
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By day, she’s a mild-mannered bureaucrat and Ms. Know-It-All. By night, she’s a dance teacher and RPG player (although admittedly not on the same nights). On the weekends, she may be found judging Magic, playing Guild Wars 2 (badly), or following other creative pursuits. Holy Lack of Copious Free Time, Batman! While she’s always wished she had teleportation as her superpower, she suspects that super-speed would be much more practical because then she’d have time to finish up those steampunk costumes she’s also working on.