Page 45 Review by Jonathan
Reprints material originally published in the excellent ISLAND anthology curated by Emma Rios and Brandon Graham himself, along with the MULTIPLE WARHEADS GHOST THRONE one-shot. I had thought Brandon had said he had no intentions of doing any more, but I guess he just couldn't help himself, which is great news for fans of the series.
The publisher's sweet whisperings reveal that...
"Black market smuggler of magic organs, Sexica plans to rob the larder of an ancient alligator wizard whose lair hides somewhere within the cliffs of the Waleing wall, while her boyfriend Nikoli searches for clues into the past of the wolf he's were-bonded to."
... which sums matters up pretty neatly. This isn't really a jumping on point for new readers but more of a continuation. If you're intrigued by how bonkers it all sounds from that one sentence of publisher blurb, you really should read Stephen's extensive review of MULTIPLE WARHEADS VOLUME ONE which also features some beautiful interior art. Brandon is definitely not trying to be Moebius, but if absurdist, saucy, comedy sci-fi with a distinctive and subtly surreal art style is your thing, this could also be for you!
I do note with mild bemusement that this volume contains about half the page count of the previous volume for the same price. Page deflation, it's a terrible thing... But also weirdly this volume is not standard Image trade size, like volume one, but slightly taller and wider. Though, thinking about it, that will be because Island was magazine-sized.
Still, seems odd to not reduce it by what is a fractional amount for consistency in the trades, but hey ho. Maybe Brandon is going for some sort of multistage rocket design, with a slightly wider, larger second section sitting underneath the first warhead and then the third volume* will be a gigantic over-sized booster which when the three are put together will launch the reader into orbit. Maybe.
*I have no idea whether there ever will be a third volume, but I hope so.
