Review by Frank Plowright

With Steven Universe the success it is, there was never any doubt concerning further graphic novels, and the bulk of this second outing is from the same creative team of  Jeremy Sorese and Coleman Engle, with assorted others providing short back-up strips.

As such, pretty well the same comments made about Volume 1 remain relevant, the primary one being that Engle is a good artist on the wrong assignment. The art is too far removed from the look of the TV show, and Engle prioritises individual illustrations, not panel to panel storytelling. There’s an energy to the cartooning, but it lacks focus.

In story terms books provide the main theme for over half the collection. Stretching over two chapters, a rogue creation causes complications when Steven wants to have a yard sale to fund a new local library, and when Connie begins telling Pearl the plot of a series of fantasy books she has trouble processing the continuity. Of Steven’s three helpers it’s Pearl who’s seen most, Garnet barely seen and Amethyst only taking the lead in a short story about pets and toward the end of the final longer story. That’s the sweetest of them all, concerning an old gem powering an old clock, and where Engle’s wildly imaginative style is a solid fit.

As with the previous volume, a number of other creators provide back-up strips, here introducing Grace Kraft, who’d go on to write the Steven Universe comics. She also draws her strips, also in a style far removed from the clear TV animation, looking more like the illustrations from children’s books. Of the other creators providing short strips Evan Palmer most closely approximates the style of the TV animation, but only contributes a single page gag.

Sorese successfully transfers the positive outlook and good natured charm of the animation to his stories here, meaning that reservations about the art notwithstanding, fans of the show ought to embrace this selection more than the first.