Writer – Jack Kirby
Artist – Jack Kirby
Inker – Mike Royer
Colours – Petra Goldberg
Letters – Mike Royer

Machine Man is wounded and on the run from the army, a situation he did not think to find himself in and yet here he is.  Colonel Kragg is turning out to be X-51’s General Ross as he is just as determined as the General is, looking to take the mechanized hero out if it is the last thing he does.  Meanwhile, X-51 gets himself to a garage, creates some diamonds from some rocks which is no easy feat, builds himself some add-ons to turn himself into a car and makes his way to Central City to hopefully stay with his new friend Doctor Spalding.  Once there, he looks to get some rest and avoid those who are after him but things are not to remain as calm or as uneventful as he might like as he intercepts some transmissions from space that are somehow linked to one of Spalding’s patients.  With this second issue, Jack Kirby gives readers a little bit of action though not too much which is a bit of a shame but seeing as how Aaron Stack is still on his journey of self-discovery, it remains an interesting time.  What is most intriguing about the man is that it seems like there is literally nothing that X-51 cannot do and is limited only by Kirby’s imagination.   Given that it is Kirby behind the wheel, one can only wonder what it is that the man will have Stack do next and that in part makes this book exciting to read.  One thing that is nice to see is Kirby delving into X-51’s persona during the beginning of the issue where readers get a good bit of character development. Having X-51 being able to dream shows the audience that he is more than just a machine, leading to the fact that he more than likely has a soul and that is definitely something that Kirby can explore in future issues and something that would make for captivating reading.  This was a satisfying issue overall, with some good storytelling, some fantastic Kirby artwork and some very interesting developments.

3.5 out of 5