Apex Legends: Overtime #2 spoiler-free review

The following is a review of the second issue of the Apex Legends: Overtime comic series, and contains spoilers for Apex Legends: Overtime #1. If you missed our review of the first issue, you can check it out here.

The first issue of Apex Legends: Overtime offered a mixed bag of sorts. Its story was appealing and set up a series of action but burdened itself with some slightly lazy moments in the art department, yet still managed to come together as an intriguing read for Apex Legends fans. The trouble is, the expectations of the series are pretty high.

Fans loved the hardback Pathfinder’s Quest story that Dark Horse comics also published, scoring a strong 4.9/5 stars on reading app Goodreads, and now as what can technically be classed as a follow-up to this story has arrived, it needs to keep up that momentum over weekly instalments. But, the story of its second issue implies that the success of Overtime could rest on a strong landing that the comics so far imply could be too much for the series.

Overtime #2’s story

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As Overtime #1 closes, we see Crypto and Mirage facing off against a Revenant who looks prime and ready to cut Mirage’s life short by the time the final panel arrives, and leaves a cliffhanger that keeps the reader prepared for its second issue - but the story takes as wide a step away from this action as it possibly could have.

Issue two follows Octane and Lifeline, attending the very same club that Mirage and Crypto visited in issue one, to see Lifeline perform before Pathfinder’s presence brings chaos as usual.

This story is perfectly operable by itself, but leading on from the bombshell of the last issue, it implies that the stories of the comic series will divulge for the most part to later coalesce in the final issue. The next issue’s art implies that Rampart and Wattson will take centre stage for issue three, which gives way for concerns that none of these three stories will have a particularly satisfying ending. There’s every possibility that the series will crack under the pressure it makes for itself by issue four.

Standing on its own, the narrative is perfectly passable, carrying the reader through the 20 pages easily enough - but the clamouring for more of Crypto and Mirage’s story mixed with the worry about the series sticking the landing is a bitter cocktail.

Overtime #2’s artwork

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Sadly, Overtime #2’s artwork falls prey to exactly what let down the first issue in the art department. Some moments are dynamic and snappy, while others are let down by a severe lack of detail that makes characters look more blobby than you’d expect them to. In smaller panels of course we can expect less quality in the likes of Octane and Pathfinder’s minute details, but in some frames, the characters are near-unrecognisable.

Perhaps the series suffered a rushed production, but it’s safe to assume that this issue will run through until the series’ final pages. This leaves a lot of pressure on the narrative to be the driving force of the comic, and with the pressures that already lie on it, it makes a stuck landing less and less likely.

Verdict

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There is still a chance that Apex Legends: Overtime can pull itself back. Perhaps the penultimate issue offers more throwbacks to the narratives we’re already familiar with, or the final instalment bringing an ending so thrilling that it undoes the current structure, which makes the comic feel rather clumsy.

Overtime might end up being a series that’s made more valuable by its debut as an all-in-one package (which is set to arrive in January 2022), but until the final issue, we simply can’t wait. Issue three is set to feel like yet another chapter and yet another divulging storyline - and I dearly hope it’s able to hold itself together.