Enginehead #2 Review- Second Gear. If you thought the first issue was confusing, the second issue isn’t any better. I had to read it through numerous times to get the plot of the story. McKeever’s art remains the same as the first issue, that is very cool, and its vague look lends itself perfectly to Kelly’s bizarre plot.

The Mechanic, designer of Enginehead, well, is just a nut case. Enginehead’s purpose is to fix the “flaws” in the world. Drug dealers, murderers, etc. beware. He is essentially a high tech vigilante, or is he? Big E is composed of six personalities: Rosie the Riveter, Doctor Cyber, Brainstorm, Emil Hamilton, Automan, and Ford Corrado, a.k.a. Jackhammer. These are all villains. The Mechanic supposedly took all the best features from each villain and combined them together to make Enginehead, a force for good, or at least what the Mechanic considers “good”. Ford, being the biggest and strongest of the lot, becomes the vessel for all.

The Second Gear begins with Big E dispatching bad guy after bad guy to bring justice to a toy maker that has made his millions by buying illegal aliens and using them as slave labor in his factories and as prostitutes. Enginehead dispenses justice to the toy maker, by ramming a piece of steel through him.

An interesting thing happens to him as he was destroying the toy factory. Something Big E doesn’t understand. He experiences what the Mechanic calls “residue in the cylinders”; the cylinders being the six that volunteered to become Enginehead. Throughout the issue, Big E experiences memories from Rosie, Automan, and Doctor Cyber. He begins to question whether he is “perfect” as the Mechanic has proclaimed, being made up of six “flawed” beings. Remember, it’s all about “connections” (more to come in upcoming issues I’m sure).

The issue ends with Enginehead attempting to fix his brother’s “flaws”, with Grease Monkey looking on cooing, “Good Monster”.

Completely confusing issue, but if Kelly can do it right, when Enginehead hits it’s stride and kicks into high gear, it should be an awesome finish.

By the way, Enginehead doesn’t carry a mature readers rating, but some of the themes in the book definitely fall into that category.