Review – Juice Squeezers #2 (Dark Horse)

Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Writer/Artist: David Lapham
Release Date: 5th February 2014

The covert army of “tweeners” battle to save their quaint Californian town from an infestation of Giant Bugs. Why are “tweeners” on the front line of this war you will no doubt be asking yourself? …because they are they are small enough to fit through the Giant Bugs underground tunnels and take the battle to their home turf.

Issue #2 takes a step back from the covert team and gives the spotlight to Billy Farnsburger, a new kid in town. Throughout the issue Billy is portrayed as a bit of loner; but a loner that keeps getting in the way of the teams work. The “tweener-team” consistently faces the dilemma of whether or not to include Billy in their plans or continue with their attempts push him away. Juice Squeezers is a book that is filled with contradicting concepts, depicting young adults preparing for battle while arguing who has the best grades between them. This contradiction shouldn’t be regarded as a negative trait though; it is an endearing quality to the book to see childish behaviour mixed with adult skills, such as battle tactics… and architecture?!

There are very little action scenes in this issue of Juice Squeezers, with the characterisation of Billy taking up most of the page space. One of the strongest scenes effectively depicts the stable father and son bond in the Farnsburger family, one which I am sure we will see more of as this series progresses.

The art of Juice Squeezers #2 is noticeably simplistic, utilising mostly plain backgrounds and very few defining features between characters appearances. The beard of “Mr Kettleborne” was particularly hilarious, with David Lapham utilising several straight black lines to indicate his apparent facial hair. Juice Squeezers artwork is almost childlike at times, a stark contrast to the work David Lapham has done previously in the pages of titles such as Crossed and 30 Days of Night: 30 Days ‘til Death.