When we last left our heroes, Gatsby (behind-the-scenes tech expert for covert private military contractor The Observatory) was told that Merlin (the field agent he handles, has never met in person, but totally has a crush on) was sent on a mission without him and was killed in action. Then at the end of the issue, she turns up in Gatsby’s apartment, alive and on the run.

In this issue, we get to see the mission she went on, how things went south, and why the Observatory might not be what they seem. Now, Gatsby must do a bit of field work of his own to retrieve some data from the Observatory that might help them get to the bottom of what’s going on—without letting them know that Merlin is alive, or that they’ve now met in person.

We also get to meet Ulysses, another Guy in the Chair, so far unseen, but, like Gatsby, a voice in Merlin’s ear, helping her navigate this new and dangerous situation.

The characters in this comic are elite agents—the best at what they do, highly trained, wielding incredible technology to pull off seemingly impossible feats. But what makes the story fun is that they’re also real people. We see how close Gatsby and Merlin are by the way they tease each other, trade pop culture references, and talk about the most mundane things, even as they’re facing a life-and-death situation together. Likewise, when the voice of the mysterious Ulysses is guiding Merlin from afar, they’re able to communicate better when she finds out which fandoms he knows and doesn’t know—and thus which references will help drive her point home.

There’s great action in this comic and a good story, but it’s the characters that really make it stand out. They add humor, as well as heart, and really make us care about what’s going on. I’m looking forward to see what happens in the next issue.

Creative Team: Hannah Rose May and Utkarsh Ambudkar (script, created by), Guillermo Sanna (art), Dearbhla Kelly (colors), Steve Wands (letters)
Publisher: Dark Horse
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