The second issue of indie anthology comic FWACATA! continues the vibe of the first, right from that stunningly attention grabbing cover, and when you actually delve beyond that, you’ll discover a set of stories that hit just as hard as that fist does in the aforementioned cover art.

An impassioned text intro and a fun, single page glimpse at the life of a comic artist then leads to the first main story in FWACATA! #2.

We were introduced to the almost Wolverine-esque Meathook in issue #1; though he has a healing factor like the most popular of Marvel’s Merry Mutants, his sights are laser focused on street level problems, and in this story he’s focusing on taking down some deadly drug dealers, in typically explosive fashion. Problem is, those dealers and their stash have a deadly secret, and Meathook is about to find out about it the hard way.

FWACATA! creator Juan Navarro teams up with Kenny Calderon for the second story, or should that be stories, plural? Either way, following Meathook’s tale, we’re introduced to a much more lighthearted character: Office Unicorn. In a series of vignettes, Office Unicorn satirises the drudgery and painful repetitive behaviour found in just about any office you’ve ever worked in, and it’s all too familiar!

Finally, there’s the return of another character from the first issue, with the supernaturally powered, ex-cop (and current investigator) Rez (aka Jonathan Reznick) investigating a grisly crime. Albeit not before grossing out a colleague with his nakedness and generally disgusting lifestyle.

One thing that’s cool about FWACATA! is that it feels completely unrestrained by editorial mandate or commercial concerns, so it presents a very strong and singular artistic vision throughout; even with the colourful, light-hearted and satirical Office Unicorn collaboration, the tone of cynicism acts as a sort of thematic throughline in the anthology, regardless of the change in subject matter and characters between strips.

It really does feel like a throwback to less focus group-led or brand conscious media, which is thoroughly refreshing. It’s a walk down a few blocks on the dark side of the street to a job you hate, but have to keep going to regardless. Those bills don’t pay themselves, after all.

The second issue of FWACATA! can be found on Kickstarter right now, in the midst of its crowdfunding campaign; unless you’re reading this at some unspecified point in the future of course (he says, calling back to FWACATA #2’s intro).

If this kind of hardcore action, dark comedy and office-based satire is your bag, then jump on board and help it to come to fruition here – with a variety of options for extras at different pledge levels, and copies of issue #1 included to catch up on, if you missed it the first time around.

You won’t regret it.