4 out of 5

Ah, more hijinks.  Which is a good thing.  Mr. Hastings expands on the solid ridiculousness he employed in volume 1 via Ben Franklin clones, a drug that gives you ninja powers, and Frans Rayner, a mixture of every 80s action movie hero and villain.  The overall presentation evolves as well, with Hastings’ pencils getting cleaner (it’s always fascinating that, as artists get more proficient, they seem to be able to use less lines to achieve more) and his layouts a little smoother; volume one had the hiccup where action shots sometimes felt like they were captured before or after the right moment, or from the wrong angle, but with the expansion of Story over end-with-a-punchline webcomicness (volume 2 is all one long tale told in two parts), the work doesn’t feel confined to a page-by-page basis, and so scenes get to breathe more.  We’re still experimenting, of course, so lettering gets jammed in there on occasion and the introduction of grey tones is a total boon but still starts out a bit rough, and subplots aren’t wended in too effectively, but still, everything is on an upward trajectory here, Hastings really zeroing in on the difficult balance between epic comedy payoffs and exciting action, never once letting his non-Marvel / DC status limit his scope.

The intro by Jeffrey Rowland sets a good quirky tone, but the “intermission” guest strip by Benito Cereno is sorta herky-jerky with its humor.  No extras this time otherwise, besides the alt-text, just an appreciable dose of enjoyment.