Showman Killer 2: The Golden Child

The Superhierophant enacts the second part of his terrible plan as he seizes power from the Omnimonarch, preparing to subjugate the universe. The only wrinkle? The emotionless shapeshifting assassin Showman Killer, who is protecting the Omnimonarch’s infant son. Battling insane, impossible odds is tough enough, but can Showman Killer murder his way to freedom while keeping the baby safe?

The twisted, weird, gross, and often funny adventures of Showman Killer continue in the second installment of the series, The Golden Child. The book wastes little time in picking up where the last one left off, delving deeper into the peculiar and elaborate mythology of Jodorowsky’s universe, a place where science and the supernatural are all one and the same.

Although the Showman Killer series strives to be its own creature — succeeding more often than not — one can’t help but see shades of Fiona Staples and Brian K. Vaughan’s Saga series in some of their creative choices, which hurts the story from time to time. After all, “assassin who protects a child” is hardly a new trope, so all the sci-fi trappings matter in the long run in helping the Showman Killer series define itself.

It’s unbridled weirdness, but worthwhile unbridled weirdness.