This is the second volume of four collecting the excellent Madame Xanadu series from Vertigo/DC.

The writing from Mike Wagner is excellent, as usual. I've liked pretty much everything he's ever done, from Grendel to Mage. And what can be said that hasn't been said before about William Michael Kaluta, one of the all-time greatest artists in the comics biz? This is up to his usual high standard, it's gorgeous and gritty, which definitely suits the noir tone of the story.

However (and this may sound like sacrilege, as Kaluta is rightfully considered a supergiant among comics artists), as lovely as the art is, l didn't like it quite as much as I did Amy Reeder Hadley's beautiful art in the first volume. Don't get me wrong, Kaluta's art is gorgeous, but I just have a sneaking preference for Hadley's, which is strange indeed, as she's a newcomer whom I've never come across before (maybe it's because she's new, and I've never seen her stuff before), and Kaluta has always been one of my favourites. Their styles are completely different, but both of them are beautiful, far superior to the average bog-standard comic book art usually found in superhero comics.

Overall, Madame Xanadu Vol. 2: Exodus Noir is a very enjoyable read. I've already collected four volumes in trade paperback (I don't think there are any more, which is a great pity), and I'm really liking this series.

I'll get around to reviewing the other three at some point. I really should've started with Vol. 1, but this was a random impulse posting, and I was reading it at the time. :)