Two big surprises this issue. Not counting the little, almost expected double-crosses. No one is particularly nice in Maestros. Except Willy, his mom, and his girlfriend. The Devil’s daughter isn’t so bad either. It’s the end of the universe, with Willy battling it out with the magical elf for the control of not just the…

Willy goes to Hell! To ask for help. Hell gives Skroce a lot to draw. Some gross stuff in terms of blood and guts, some gross stuff in terms of dick and fart jokes. Maestros has such an excellent balance between those two interests. Skroce splits the issue between Willy negotiating with the Devil–I think…

I’m still excited about Maestros but I’m no longer worried about it. Skroce has got a handle on the book. He knows what he’s doing; four issues in, he’s established his characters. The split between present day and flashback–something he introduced and then temporarily abandoned–serves him well this issue. He’s got the mom back. The…

Skroce moves Maestros along faster than expected. He resolves his cliffhangers, he sets up for his next plot point, he moves through it, he repeats a couple times, he sets up his new cliffhangers. It’s awesome pacing, actually. Even though Skroce’s artwork on Maestros is breathtaking–especially in this issue, where he gets to do disaster…

Skroce delivers with the second issue of Maestros. He’d had two storylines going in the first–flashback and present; he sticks mostly with present here, the occasional flashback for expository purposes. King Willy (is his name even mentioned in the comic or is he just Maestro?). Anyway, King Willy is making some changes to Magicland. Kind…

“You know, I’m sorry but, I didn’t mention it earlier but actually I preferred to be called Maestro.” How can you not think of “The Maestro” just a little in Maestros, which is about an obnoxious wizard king who rules fantasyland. Earth is just a magic-less world created to amuse those who have magic. And…