In Review: Penny Dreadful: The Awakening #2.10

Synopsis: An ill wind blows through the streets of London…

With the minions of Satan snapping at their heels, and their motley crew becoming splintered by more deceptions and deaths, Catriona and Victor strike out on a journey north. Their hope is that it will bring them face to face with the last being on Earth that can defeat the ultimate evil that has cursed their lives… the ancient and elusive Dracula. As they journey ever northwards, they learn that even in motion, they cannot escape the clutches of Lucifer’s followers…

Left to care for Ethan, Lily desperately tries to coax the man she loved back from the brink of death, but old wounds run deep and she is not the woman she once was… for better or worse, it seems Ethan’s fate is out of her hands…

Review: Penny Dreadful: The Awakening #2.10 gives our heroes a very slight respite before ramping up the action once again. Regrettably, the action concerning Ethan is becoming as repetitive as I feared it would. Ethan and Satan-Vanessa are fully committed to riding The Deny-You-Embrace-You Merry-Go-Round.

Fortunately, the other story lines are progressing in more interesting directions. I’m particularly enjoying Lord Hyde’s sub plot. Chris King twists Robert Louis Stevenson’s mythology in a really clever way that’s both a nod to canon and completely in keeping with Penny Dreadful internal logic. Jesus Hervas’ art for Hyde’s transformation sequence is wonderful.

Additionally, King gives readers a pairing they might not have seen coming, but in hindsight, makes perfect sense. Of course, the two will ultimately be as doomed as every other couple in this universe. I just hope they don’t become as tedious as Ethan and what’s left of Vanessa.

Readers will have to wait until the next issue to see how things progress. King leaves us with a brilliantly retro cliffhanger involving Victor Frankenstein and a train.

Written by

Chris King

Art by

Jesus Hervas

Colored by

Jason Wordie

Published by

Titan Comics