I knew that I had made the right choice when I donated for The Monsters of Jimmy Crumb on Kickstarter. The artwork drew me in, and as I was wrapped up in the visuals, the story continued to take me into a black hole of horror and intrigue. Such is
the way of Jimmy Crumb!
The first issue in the series did a great job of laying the groundwork. You were introduced to the characters of: Jimmy Crumb, a boy who can mysteriously control monsters to kill people, his schoolmate Haley Donomachavitch, a curious girl who feels that Jimmy may be hiding something, Detective Anton, a police investigator whose seeing bodies pile up and doesn’t know why, and of course, The Monsters. Calling upon the legends of old, Jimmy brings forth: Bloody Mary, Cropsey, The Devil of Dreams, and more to do his bidding.
This second issue called: Ambitious Child, does a bit more to get the reader insight into Jimmy Crumb and just how sick and twisted he may be. I say MAY, because we don’t quite have the full story. As Haley Donomachavitch sneaks into Jimmy’s house to confront him, she happens upon a Hell demon Jimmy has trapped in his basement. The demon begins to tell the story of how he became enslaved to his pint-sized master and you actually start to feel bad for him. Maybe Jimmy is just an extremely evil boy.
You also see Detective Anton hard at work on solving the case of all these drug cartel members having massive coronaries and dying. It’s not adding up that the bodies are piling up without a significant reason for all of their deaths. He knows that there’s something more going on, but 
can’t prove what it is.
Finally, Jimmy is hard at work on his list of people to kill. The Monsters are getting restless and wanting to rebel a bit, but he outsmarts them and more death follows. This issue serves as a good way to show just how smart Jimmy is, and just how far he’ll go to get what he wants. By the end, you almost have to side with the Hell Demon, that Jimmy may just be evil for evil’s sake. The end of the issue serves as a cliffhanger and I can’t wait to find out what happens next.
The artwork continues to surprise and astonish as each panel is a splash of color and violence. Jen Hickman seems to have honed her skills even more in this issue and I found myself staring at the page at times and taking it all in. Hickman’s art is perfectly complemented by the story from James Patrick, as I was very engaged throughout. My favorite part was the wink to Freddy Krueger that I won’t ruin how it plays out, you’ll just have to see for yourself.
I loved Ambitious Child and I’m sure you will as well. Check out my review of the first issue HERE. If you’d like to keep up on all the newest for The Monsters of Jimmy Crumb, make sure to LIKE the 21 Pulp and James Patrick Facebook pages. Also, check out the newest project, IMPOSTER on the Facebook as well. A new secret project from Patrick and Matias Basia.
