Quick comic comments: King of Thorn Vol. 2

The second volume of Yuji Iwahara’s King of Thorn (Tokyopop) offers more of exactly the same – a small handful of thawed-out survivors of a deadly disease navigate a now-monster-infested medical facility where they were cryogenically frozen until a cure could be found for their affliction.

I’d write a proper review, but it would end up sounding just like the one I wrote about the first volume, only with increased impatience — exciting set pieces, great art, and flat characters. It’s probably an unfair comparison, but I think Mochizuki Minetaro gave Dragon Head (also Tokyopop) a much more effective launch. There were just as many thrills and chills, but Minetaro’s characters were instantly arresting and specific, in spite of the extremity of their circumstances.

Has anyone read this series in Japanese or German or French? How long does it take for things to get weirder and more interesting, or at least more personal? I really want to like this series, because Iwahara’s Chikyu Misaki (CMX) is one of my favorite manga of all time, but I really need some reassurance that quirkier developments are coming.