Kicked off with a really nifty Michael Allred wraparound cover is this second holiday anthology featuring characters from current Vertigo titles. Like the previous Winter's Edge, this is a 96 page book taking a different (atypically Vertigo) slant on the current holidays and winter season. Once more some top notch talent contribute, beginning with an all new Neil Gaiman story starring Death. Black and white, the art by Jeff Jones conveys well the coldness Death feels about her duty sometimes. The story is an introspective one of the lead character and can only be described as "sweetly Gaiman".
However, before we peek into the mind of Death, we are given the first to pages of our framing story starring characters from Peter Milligan and Sean Phillips (with Kent Williams)' The Minx. A good story which doesn't serve it's purpose as a framing sequence (it's a linear tale helped only by the fact that the other stories in the anthology separate the scenes), this tale follows young, brash Leo as he searches for his lost Yarmulke. The only question I have is where did the blood come from?
Some stories in this compilation are really refreshing and are great as stand-alone stories, while others (like the Books of Magic tale and the Nevada story) seem confusing without prior character knowledge.
An upcoming Vertigo series makes it's introduction here, Scene of the Crime by Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark. The tale is a heartwarming yet depressing one at the same time, and serves as a good intro to the book's lead characters (a private detective and his uncle, a scene of the crime photographer). The Transmetropolitan story by Warren Ellis, Darick Robertson and Rodney Ramos, also serves as a good introduction into the kooky world of pissed-off-with-everyone journalist Spider Jerusalem in the best story of the lot. The Hellblazer tale is an easy favorite to all those surly kermudgens around during the holidays, as Garth Ennis and Glyn Dillon tell why John Constantine hates children.
The Invisibles are around with some Phil Jimenez designed paper dolls of King Mob and Lord Fanny (with various fashion accessories), and we get a behind the scenes peek at Paul Pope's new series Heavy Liquid.
A great sampler for Vertigo product (even at the $10.95 Canadian price tag), Winter's Edge 2 equals the first in quality and entertainment value. The only disappointing factor is the absence of Ennis' Preacher (but the Hellblazer tale easily makes up for it).