Tails of Mystery: The Amulet of Thar’ishdom – Part 2 by Asa Wheatley (Writing) & Kat Willott (Artwork)

With 15 minutes to spare earlier this week, I decided it was time to read the remaining issues I have in this four-part series. So as the title suggest this post is about issue 2 and my next post will unsurprisingly be for issue 3. I am not sure of the publication date of these two issues as they are not mentioned within the comics themselves and I am struggling to find any info online. However, since the first part was released in 2018, they might have been also issued in the same year.

As I mentioned in my review for part 1, I rarely read comics, so one of the challenges of reading this mystery series, has been trying to adjust to the different method of storytelling. I’m not sure I have successfully managed this though and in this review and my next one, I do have some queries as to what standard comic book tropes are.

Issue 2 begins in medias res with Wyatt, (who is still stuck as a cat), Holland and Steph planning to locate the amulet, which they hope will restore Wyatt back to human form. In keeping with the previous instalment, Holland is rather prickly and unkeen to help, in contrast to Steph, (although resent and bitterness does rise to surface between her and Wyatt later in the story). Part 2 of the mystery gives more attention to one of the criminal lackeys we first encountered in issue 1, as well as providing more information about the criminal gang behind the central crime.

Having a character who has been turned into a feline is an interesting element and I enjoyed, for example, when Wyatt is searching for the amulet in some boxes, as his whole approach to doing so is restricted by his cat form. I felt in moments such as this the artist did a good job of depicting cat facial expressions. However, I think this aspect is insufficiently utilised in the story as a whole and is one of the features which could have been expanded upon. The artwork throughout the issues I have read is rather sparse and minimalist and to be honest I found this to be a weakness of the comic reading experience, as I had hoped for more details, which might become clues etc. Instead, there is often large chunks of each panel which is just one colour.

Part 2 continues the hard-boiled tinge, hinted at in issue 1, but conversely, I thought it had a smidge more plot content. I don’t think I am used to having a mystery unfolded with such sparse use of text and with more limited character depth. However, being unfamiliar with what is normal for a comic magazine, I don’t know if this is simply a characteristic of this storytelling medium.

I am still not convinced that this is something I can strongly recommend, but then I am not sure if I am the best person to advise, given my more limited experience of comic books.