2 out of 5

Three series in to The Shepherd, and the main thing that keeps standing in the way of the Molinaris expanding on their relatively solid start is an inability to grasp the comic book form. Storytelling beats are off; issues are not structured as issues; and this three book mini concludes with its second issue, leaving the third for not unimportant, but completely dragging narration. The shame is that the premise is sound, and I’d say the conception of these second and third volumes are also good. Here, Professor Lawrence Miller’s offspring prove to have absorbed some Shepherd-y skills, and put them to use solving a missing child mystery – another absolutely valid way of expanding things. But I’d say there’s something telling in that we’ve never returned to the exact format of the first volume of issues, which also had a good core concept, suggestive of writers who are perhaps trying to stitch together ideas instead of nurturing one.

Regardless, The Valentine’s story isn’t the problem; it’s the presentation. A presentation that kicks off with a Shepherd summary on the interior of each issue which has very little to do with the actual contents, and continues with a somewhat tired framing device – Miller’s daughter is telling the story of these issues to another – and then the book stepping over itself to put pieces into place and tell the story of the missing girl at the same time. I call the aforementioned device “tired,” but that can also be fine, given how it’s used, and the same goes for all of the individual beats in the book; they’re just either out of place or given very odd emphasis (too much or too little time spent on what I’d consider to be the wrong details).

Jamie Martínez Rodríguez’s art uses a minimalist line style, and sits in a sort of uncomfortable photo-reference range – faces sometimes are too “real” against the rest of the figure. But their look is consistent, at least, and the black and white plus spot reds (from colorist Trevor Rubin) are a generally good fit for the book’s tone.

For all this criticism, I appreciate that the Molinaris are still tinkering with their character. The ideas are there, and the chops are as well, if perhaps more evident in moments than on the whole. The Valentine feels more restrained than volume 2, which is progress, but a better grasp of the comic form still eludes.