The Fade out vol 2 by ed brubaker

Illustrated by Sean Phillips, colored by Elizabeth Breitweiser
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Charlie is up on a ranch in Ojai where they are continuing to reshoot the movie with young starlet Maya standing in for Val. The official story from the studio is that Val killed herself, but Charlie knows she was murdered. He is still trying to find a producer with horn-rimmed glasses who might know something about what happened, but producers are dime a dozen and his description matches so many people in this town. Despite his better judgment, Charlie starts to fall for Maya, who is in a staged relationship with her co-star to drum up press for the film. But the young man runs his new car into an embankment and lands himself in the hospital. Gil also drums up plenty of trouble for a man who is supposed to be laying low.

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There is so much about this story that is dark and twisty, and it seems like nobody is a good person - everyone has some terrible secret they’re trying to keep under wraps, including Charlie and Maya. This volume is more about the steamy, budding relationship between Charlie and Maya, and the urgency to solve Val's murder that dominated the first volume takes a back seat. Charlie is continuing to inquire about the producer who might have some answers, but when the head of security starts poking around and asking questions, Charlie's nerves overtake him, and he allows himself to be immersed in his feelings for Maya. 

There are some pretty explicit moments in this volume. Old Man Kemp, the owner of the studio, ties up a naked lady in the forest for some sort of elicit game. Charlie and Maya engage in some pretty detailed extracurricular activities throughout the volume.

Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Adult

Reviews of previous volumes in this series: vol 1

Publisher: Image Comics
Publication Date: September 16, 2015
ISBN: 9781632154477 (Paperback)

​Tags: Rating: 8/10, Suitability: Adult, Comicbooks, Mystery, Image Comics