Graphic Novel Review: The Montague Twins Vol. 2: The Devil’s Music by Nathan Page & Drew Shannon

Posted on April 12, 2022 at 6:33 am by Gene Ambaum

The Montague Twins Vol. 2: The Devil’s Music by Nathan Page & Drew Shannon. Alfred A. Knopf / RH Graphic, 2021. 9780525646808.

Charlie, Pete, and his brother Al are in a band, The Bony Fingers. After their supernatural adventure in the first book, Rowan is continuing to teach them a bit of magic. But a shadowy group of faculty at the university has some concerns about that plus a new member — an uncle the boys have never heard about. There’s also a handsome and mysterious rock star, Gideon Drake, who recently showed up in town and started hanging out. It’s a minor spoiler, but the reason he’s there has something to do with Millie, a girl who also goes to Central High and who, nearly catatonic, almost falls into the harbor in front of the lighthouse. As romances start to develop and a group of mothers protests against rock and roll, there’s some question about what’s up with Gideon (and whether or not it’s demonic).

This is an odd and pleasant follow-up to the first book in that it doesn’t have a rigid mystery plot. I’d have thought this series would have gone toward more a predictable, straightforward Hardy Boys-type plots but Page and Shannon are letting the characters dictate the direction of the series. The result is a great read with beautiful art set in New England in the late 60s (I think) featuring concerned adults, realistic high school kids, and a developing storyline that seems to be setting things up for later books. Here’s hoping there are a lot of those.