It has been awhile since I reviewed THE ESSENTIAL HOTSHOT #1, the first of a 5-part series. Now I have gotten the 2nd issue, also from the creative team of Victor Dandridge (writer) and Michael Watson (artist/creator) in a story titled “HERO’S WELCOME PT. 2”

This is pretty much a non-stop action issue. The big villain, Void, is still floating in the air making cars and stuff levitate, while Hotshot desperately tries to stop him and keep bystanders safe. This is complicated by the fact that several bystanders are under some kind of hypnotic spell and also try to attack Hotshot while chanting things like “Make way for the darkness. Extinguish the light.” Some even start shooting at him, and he gets hit in the shoulder with one bullet. One of the bystanders he saves is his ex-girlfriend Carla, who is surprised when Hotshot accidentally calls her by name. Hotshot manages to get Carla away to safety and then returns to fight Void head-on in the sky. The fight doesn’t go well for Hotshot, as he gets the crap beaten out of him, but then just as Hotshot is prepared to deliver the killing blow, Hotshot inexplicably gets a surge in energy, regroups, and knocks Void clear to the Antarctic.

The superheroine, Vigilance, reappears (don’t know where she’s been during this battle, to take Hotshot, who is still severely injured, to get medical help. When Hotshot, back in his civilian identity, Michael, returns home (with a black eye and broken arm), Carla is waiting for him. But before she can explain why, Michael starts vomiting, falls to the floor, and says “Make way for the darkness!” TO BE CONTINUED

Not much story here. Like I said, it’s pretty much all action, although I did like the scenes where Hotshot is trying to save Carla. Still a LOT of information about these characters is missing. The artwork is decent enough, no complaints there. This gets another THREE STARS

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