East of West, Volume 2: We Are All One
Jonathan Hickman, writer; Nick Dragotta, artist
Image Comics
At the end of the first collection, Death had just discovered that his son was alive, and vowed to find him. Just before that, Bel Solomon had proposed a plot against the Chosen, and it is that thread that is taken up first. Bel's treachery is exposed and he barely escapes with his life, then we get the first of many flashbacks. Earlier in his life Bel was involved in a trial that saw the birth of the Rangers, a ruthless force of lawmen that exterminated corrupt judges and politicians (which apparently was most of them). Back in the present Bel enlists the help of the Ranger he tried to help--that's him on the cover--to eliminate the Chosen and stop the end of the world that they are working towards.
Meanwhile, Death and his entourage have gone to see an oracle to discover the location of his son. He loses an eye in the bargain, but what he gets is directions to someone who can tell him where his son is. That place is dead country, the Grave, and after an epic battle Death is about to get the location...when the Ranger completes his first assassination.
There are other significant plot developments as well. The remaining Horsemen of the Apocalypse have started to consider if Death's son really is the Beast of the Apocalypse his is being raised as: they will kill him if they decide he is not. But the child appears to be more powerful and more aware than anyone is giving him credit for.
In the world of politics, the President of the Union has instituted martial law to put an end to widespread civil unrest. She seeks an alliance with the Kingdom (who possess great wealth from oil) in secret to shore up the Union's failing economy. It may not be the End Times, but the world certainly seems to be falling apart. It's pretty hard to tell the followers of The Message apart from the nonbelievers.
This continues to be very nonlinear storytelling: it constantly jumps between past and present, and between locations. But the action is propulsive, and Hickman and Dragotta manage to keep all of the narrative balls in the air.
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