Writer: Mark WaidPlot: A fiery scene aboard a trading ship sends Archard and Ms. Bishop struggling to stay afloat, as they search for the source of an opiate smuggling operation.
When your partner's the realm's greatest mystery-hacker, it can get pretty tough for you to make a name for yourself, or for anyone to remember what that name is. This is what Emma's been going through, under Simon Archard's smug shadow. Now, she gets her chance to go on a little fact-finding mission of her own.
Part of me selfishly wants to see Archard solve this case in two seconds, as he's done with others, but I don't get off that easy. With the arrival of the foreigner, Miranda Cross, Emma's thrown into somewhat of a jealous role over her partner, but when she finally gets close enough for some static passion, she tosses Simon a herring (very literally), and gets back to business.
As with #1, there's no end to the laughs you'll toss around, since Waid's witty dialogue continues to abound.
The detailed snuffboxes that allow Emma to solve her mystery are too obvious clues, since they're so foregrounded in their panels, hardly as subtle as the "mad dog" hint from the commissioner, which Archard recalled in the opening issue.
But the final page sure is a shocker...
