WRITER: Geoffrey Thorne
ARTIST: Jason Johnson
COLORIST: Milen Parvanov & Sai Studios
LETTERER: AW’s Erika Terriquez
EDITOR: Shannon Eric Denton

Previously: KNIGHT RIDER #1

We open with Micheal and Katherine on the run in HORSE. Michael gets word from his superior that the FLAG Foundation’s network has been hacked, so it’s temporarily going down, meaning that Michael is on his own. He seems to be mostly concerned with protecting Katherine, while she is more concerned with guarding her “prototype.” They drive to a warehouse, which secretly has an underground lab beneath it. But there’s already a woman in an all-black ninja-like suit when they get there. Michael tries to shoot the ninja woman, who proves to be an extremely skilled fighter, kicking the gun out of his hands so they begin to fight hand-to-hand, all the while Katherine is checking a large computer monitor on the wall. We see on the screen that it’s a program for “K.I.T.T. Prototype A.I.”

Aha! So Michael’s computerized car HORSE is not a replacement for K.I.T.T. after all, it’s actually just a predecessor! I should have known. I mean, that would have been such a dramatic change for this revamp, like restarted Star Trek, but having Kirk and Co. traveling on the Kelvin instead of the Enterprise, I don’t why I would think Thorne would do that. This was just a little fake-out. Smooth.

Anyway, the other woman takes of her mask, revealing that she’s a woman named Tabitha, who works with Michael (she says she’s his “Bishop”), and that the fight was just a misunderstanding. She’s there to help Michael get Katherine and K.I.T.T. away from the lab, which she thinks is no longer secure. Katherine objects because the A.I. upload is incomplete, but it may be a moot point anyway because she Michael and Tabitha are suddenly joined by a group of bad-looking masked men with guns…

Another action-packed issue, ending with a strong cliffhanger. Thorne’s knack for world-building is on display here, as from the dialog, including the instructions Michael gets from his superiors, but also especially between him and Tabitha, make it feel like we’re dealing with characters that have a long history behind them. I also like little bits he throws in between Michael and Katherine, like how in the beginning when they’re driving to the lab he called her “Dr. Beachum” because, as he says, he’s “back on the clock,” but then at the first sign of danger he’s back to calling her “Katherine,” as if he can’t help but think of her as more than just an assignment. I guess we’ll see how that little development turns out. I must also give credit to Jason Johnson for his lovely artwork. I particularly liked the way he draws Tabitha, she’s a sexy Black woman.

As I mentioned before, I was not a big fan of the original Knight Rider TV series, but with Geoff Thorne in driver’s seat, I think I’m going to a fan of Lion Forge’s Knight Rider comic-book series for quite some time.

GRADE:

KNIGHT RIDER #2