Call of Duty Black Ops III #2 continues with Jacob, John, Dylan and Haruko tracking Maxim Chernakov, who has been working with Mokrie Baba aka the Wet Witch of Lubyanka. It opens up with them being pursued through the streets of Helsinki, Finland by Maxim’s hired thugs. Maxim knew they were out to get him and decided to hire his own hitmen to take the team out. The hitmen manage to wreck the squad’s vehicle badly and Haruko decides there’s only one recourse left. She tells the squad to bail and she maneuvers the vehicle at the last minute stopping the truck in its tracks but at the cost of her life. This gives the team enough of an advantage and time to kill the remaining hitmen except one and continue their mission. They make their way to Maxim’s apartment with the help of the surviving hitman but they’re met with gunfire. Once they discover it was a trap with an unmanned machine gun they understand that finding Maxim won’t be as easy as they thought since the Wet Witch is helping him. Will they be able to locate and capture Maxim before it’s too late?

Considering the way the first issue introduced random characters and then killed them off, I was more prepared to deal with the random appearance of Haruko and then the quick death, and still not be thrown off about who’s who. So I could enjoy this action sequence for what it was, and it was pretty impressive. The characters were still pretty chatty for such a sequence since it’s not necessary for every single character to have a witty remark in every panel. At times it could take away from just being able to see the action unfolding and enjoy it fully.

But when one thinks of a Call of Duty series one has to think of action, right? Well this issue has plenty of it. Aside from the panels that consist of too much verbiage in the middle of an action sequence, there’s no comparison between this one and the first issue. I won’t give anything away but one fight had the right amount of intensity I expected when I initially started this series. And with the information the characters gained at the end of this issue, it’s a step in the right direction.

SUMMARY

Call of Duty Black Ops III #2 is an entertaining issue that improves on the first in just about every way. Considering the score I gave the first one that might not seem like a lot but the story is easier to follow with the amount of random events and characters drastically reduced. And the action is more intense and varied, and fits in the context of the events unfolding. There is still too much chatter during action sequences at times and it wouldn’t be a problem if it’s good banter but mostly that hasn’t been the case. However, I’m excited that this series feels to be headed in the right direction now.

Release Date: 12/2/15

Writer: Larry Hama

Artist: Marcelo Ferreira