Book 643: The Show Must Go On (The Backstagers #2) – James Tynion IV, Rian Sygh & Walter Baiamonte

This was a  good quick read and a must read if you want to have any idea about what’s going on in Rebels Without Applause. They really should’ve put this into one collection. Maybe they did it because of the timing of these last four issues, but it wasn’t worth reading one and then waiting for the other.

The Backstagers: The Show Must Go On contains all the backstory that Volume 1 really needed to make it make sense, mostly. There seems to be a time jump between issue four (end of volume one) and five (beginning of volume two). I’m not sure if I’ve missed a lot (there are novels and I believe this was a webcomic) because the whole thing seems more disjointed than I thought looking back on it.

The story continues and we find out why the magic is fighting to get out of the backstage and it’s not quite tear-inducing, but it is sad and beautiful. There’s more exploration of the backstage and we meet other backstagers from around the state because of this. It’s a little bit The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and a little bit Stranger Than Fiction mixed with a dash of teen rom-com.

One of the things I thought was humorous was the two productions they put on were “Les Terribles” and “LEASE”, homages to Les Miserables and RENT. For some reason it just made me giggle. I’m not sure why they couldn’t use the real names because they used a Shakespeare play in passing at some point.

Recommendation: I actually rated this one higher than volume one because we finally got the backstory needed for everything to make sense. I liked Jory better in this volume as he seems to be coming into his own, but then it ended. Still worth the read, but ONLY if you read them back-to-back.