The Chair #2 of 6
Story, Ink, and Lettering: Peter Simeti
Penciler, Artist: Kevin Christensen
Alterna Comics

Picking up right where issue one left off, Sullivan continues his internal monologue describing his day to day life and some of the more infamous inmates locked up in the prison. During the weekly “exercise” time, in which the inmates are basically allowed to roam free in the halls, one of the inmates is killed for the sheer enjoyment of the guards by a closing cell door, which is written off as merely an accident. This is the catalyst that finally unleashes the rage within Sullivan, and for one brief moment he has freedom again as he pummels the nearby guards. But he is quickly over come and knocked out. And when he awakens, he finds himself chained to a what appears to be a metal operating table, with a hideously smiling looming over him!

Writer Peter Simeti picks up the pace from the previous issue, as he finishes setting up the warped interior workings of the prison, and lets organized chaos reign. His abrupt and startling murder of a character mere panels after introducing him is just the jumpstart his prison bound Sullivan needs to start fighting back, even against insurmountable odds. It is a defining character trait that should prove to be a returning motif in the remaining books, with Sullivan attempting to stand up to the backbreaking oppression of the prison.

Kevin Christensen also returns to provide the same styled pencils of the first issue, and introduces a brief look at how he handles violence with the brutal carnage that the wardens are willing to inflict on the prisoners and Sullivan is all too ready to dish out, and an unwritten promise of what is to come. Simeti lends assistance with grey shading to provide some additional depth to art.

Simeti gets the end of issue two right this time around, with a lead out that will have readers waiting impatiently for the rest of the series to find out just how far into the abyss Simeti is willing to throw Sullivan. The Chair, with its finite number of issues, is gearing to become a story that will best be read all the way through in one sitting, so that Simeti’s increasing pace can be fully felt and appreciated.

Available at the Alterna Comic Shop.