Remember when The Walking Dead was a must read? Seeing how Rick and his family could survive in the zombie apocalypse was something I couldn't get enough of. And then, somewhere, it stopped being good, or I'd just had enough. And I haven't watched the show or read the book in years.
This is my fear with I Am A Hero. I don't want it to not be good. But at least I can say the second omnibus volume is even better than the first one. Where the first volume spent a fair amount of pages giving us an idea of just who Hideo Suzuki was, there wasn't much in the way of zombie horror...until there was, and it just didn't stop. With the second volume, that horror becomes relentless.
This second volume continues with Hideo's first day, his horrifying first night, and the beginnings of his second day of Everything Going To Hell. We see his perilous escape from Tokyo on public transit, culminating in his collapsing at night in the Suicide Forest beneath Mount Fuji. As with the first volume, Hideo must also deal with his own mental illness as well as the horrific violence surrounding him.
This volume also introduces a new companion for Hideo. Her introduction is a masterclass in unsettling. Hiromi Hayakari is a teenage schoolgirl with an old soul. Her intense degree of empathy is one of her strongest characteristics, one which may not be the best key for survival in this new world she and Hideo find themselves in. As the attacks continue, the two of them form an odd bond--Hiromi looks to Hideo as an adult with all the assumptions of wisdom and self control that term brings, even if Hideo is clearly not that person. Hideo finds himself uneasy with Hiromi, both because she's an attractive (much younger) woman and because he's still barely holding it together himself. The growth of their relationship under fire is well done, as they both discover who the person is whose hand they're holding while being pursued by monsters.
I Am A Hero Volume 2 continues to be a terrifying horror story. Long may it continue.
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