Joe Hill actually had nothing to do with writing this one (or the first sequel either). He's listed as a creative consultant on the credits page and as the author of the original short story this is the prequel to, but he has no writing credit. It's a shame his name appears on the front cover but not Ciaramellar who actually wrote this story from scratch.
How much more can there be to add to the story? The original short story (and the graphic novel it spawned) is a self contained piece with a clear beginning, middle and end. That ending was pretty definitive too.
The first sequel was entertaining enough and filled in what happened when the cape wearing antihero/villain vanished for three days in the original story.
The only other place the story can go is backwards, and therefore this is a prequel. Back in 1969 we follow the father of our previous lead character is in Vietnam. He's on board that helicopter you can see on that cover and unsurprisingly he finds himself in the jungle pretty soon after trying to evade capture.
Quite how any of this is going to tie in with the original story is never made clear until almost the final page, despite a fair bit of human levitation related revenge happening. When the reveal is made, i will admit that the first thing I did was pull the first graphic novel off my shelf to see if the detail was correct - which of course it was.
I wasn't sure if this book was going to jump the shark a little but I'm happy to report that it doesn't. it's a worthy addition to the Cape's history. The story is exciting and occasionally gruesome. despite being a prequel, I didn't see where the story was headed - a neat trick to pull off. The ending is genuinely clever. The art is excellent throughout.
All in all, a good fun cheat read and well worth tracking down a copy.
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