Review—American Gods: My Ainsel # 2— A Citizen of Lakeside

American Gods: My Ainsel # 2, Writer: Neil Gaiman, P. Craig Russell Artist: P. Craig Russell, Scott Hampton. Colorist: Jennifer T. Lange, Scott Hampton Cover Artist: Glenn Fabry, Adam Brown

There are many things you can say about Lakeside: it′s a nice town, it has good jobs, it has good people, but, (and this is mentioned in passing), it also has runaway kids; kids that take off in the winter, never to return. Hold on to that: it will be important later on.

As Shadow tries to adapt to his new rented apartment and brand new identity as Mike Ainsel, he gets to meet all sorts of people in Lakeside, all charming and proud of their beloved town. He meets with the local chief of police, Chad Mulligan; he goes to Mabel′s and tries her famous Cornish pastries, he buys himself some warm clothes and a purple car. He is starting to enjoy where he is, but that may soon change.

Meanwhile, he is really under cover: Mr. Town is looking for him, but to no avail. The interrogation they perform on Shadow′s friend, Miss Samantha Black Crow, is something to enjoy. She is a very brave and likeable character, and her responses show it.

Also, there is this mysterious bit of information about a child who was raised in darkness, in the style familiar to both the novel and the TV series: you can only understand some people by knowing how they died, and what their folk believed in about that particular act of passing. Everything will make sense soon, the comic builds himself calmly, it will take you to you final destination, but that doesn′t mean you can′t stop and enjoy the view while doing so.