“Edward Scissorhands” #2  doesn’t waste any time reminding you of the story; the parts that are most relevant, after all, have been part of the cultural canon since 1990. Instead, it concentrates on bringing the two vignettes– Edward’s solitary life in his castle with his brother/son/prototype, and Megs’ typical teenage life minus her beloved grandmother– to an intersection.

WRITTEN BY: Kate Leth

ART BY: Drew Rausch

PUBLISHER: IDW Publishing

PRICE: $2.99

RELEASE: November 26, 2014

Reviewed By: Katy Rex

This issue does a lot of things right. Let’s start with the design of Eli, a character who must have been hard to nail down– he’s an earlier, older version of Edward, but he’s been created most recently so he also is a newer, younger version. He walks a line between childishness and violence, not dissimilar to the one Edward walked 24 (oh my god, has it been that long?!) years ago.

Rausch’s design addresses all of these facets of the character, making him at once a timeless and an old-fashioned childlike robot. Special mention must be made of the colorist, Jeremy Colwell, as the colors are what really brings Eli’s character design together, in particular his use of red. By muting the colors and focusing on cooler shades, rather than doing a grayscale with red highlights, we get a nod to the over-the-top aesthetic of the original movie while still allowing this series to stand on its own feet.

The mother/daughter dynamic, too, is exactly right– Leth communicates the way in which teenage daughters and their mothers practically speak another language. When Megs fights with her mom, it’s clear that as much tension and hostility they have, they’re both coming from a place of good intentions, and they love each other. Edward Scissorhands has a certain authenticity to its emotions, even in the midst of ridiculous pageantry, and the comic continues this tradition.

In all the things this issue is doing right, it’s still very clearly an exposition issue. This isn’t the story, this is the lead-up. It’s paced very slowly, and there are a lot of parts that seem like they could be filler (unless, in some unlikely twist, some small detail in the many panels of Eli hiding in or walking through the woods gets a call-back). Two issues is a long lead-up in comics, and it could probably have been done more concisely, but I’m very enthusiastic about what it’s leading up to.

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Katy Rex writes comics analysis at endoftheuniversecomics.com, comicsbulletin.com, and bloody-disgusting.com. She also writes scholarly articles for various academic journals. She really likes butt jokes, dinosaurs, and killing psychos and midgets in Borderlands 2. She has a great sense of humor if you’re not an asshole.