Review by Frank Plowright

Gene Luen Yang continues his exploration of the assorted people populating the worlds featured in online games Clash of Clans and Clash Royale. The Jazzypickleton Cucumbers are unique in a world where people stick with their own for being a team of assorted warriors protecting a community. See them on Les McClaine’s sample art. In Vol. 1 we followed Terry from the Hogs as he found his way to Jazzypickleton and the first of his new companions was the Archer Jane, whose story is told here.

Archers shoot arrows, and any deviation from that form of attack is severely frowned on among their people. Jane however discovered some mystical documents in a cave showing how she could be a more effective archer by learning to sneak through a battlefield, yet despite her success she was ostracised. It just wasn’t the way of the Archer. Now she’s found a new home, one under threat from new arrival Kellen, also an archer, but far larger, quicker and with magical abilities to boot. Jane is devastated, and risks her reputation on challenging Kellen to an archery contest.

McClaine draws Kellen as a boastful heroic type (think Gaston in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast) clueing in younger readers that perhaps he’s not the hero he seems. Yang and McClaine work with the theory of empowerment several times, pitching the story in a way young readers will figure out something’s not right, and be very pleased with themselves when that’s later the case. The constantly busy and packed cartooning is delightful, and when a battle scene is needed McClaine really bumps up another notch.

Perhaps it was always intended, or perhaps Yang realised the contrary Granny Pocus and her pitiful rude pig Gigawatt were characters too good to limit to the single volume. She helped Terry out last time, and here Jane makes her acquaintance. There’s also a return for the fabulously fractious and incompetent goblins, who this time force a song contest.

As in the first volume, the message supplied is respect for who your true friends are, no matter how tempting the offers of others, which becomes Vol. 2’s crisis point. Of course, everything turns out okay in the end, apart from someone else facing temptation on the final page leading into Vol. 3.

With a few wrinkles worked out in Vol. 1, this is a solid slab of entertainment, funny, charming and generally good-natured, which is a clever subversion on Yang’s part of a game dependent on conquering.