Webtoon Review: Kid Cosmic Season Two
Quick recap of Season One: Comic book-obsessed orphan Kid discovers five alien Cosmic Stones of Power, turns them into rings, and takes the name Kid Cosmic. He’s joined by his grandfather Papa G, teen waitress Jo, little girl Rosa and cat Tuna Fish to form the Local Heroes. Together they fight off invading aliens and secretive government agents.
It is eventually revealed that the Stones are fragments of planets destroyed by the interstellar monster, Erodius the Planet Killer. Survivors of these destroyed planets need the stones to defeat Erodius. Except that no, off camera they failed, and the last surviving member of their team, Queen Xhan, brings the small desert community Kid and the others lived in into space.
This season opens a few months later. Mo’s Diner has adapted well to being an intergalactic truck stop, very popular among star travelers. Kid is getting antsy; he wants to get on with the task of finding the rest of the now thirteen Cosmic Stones of Power and saving the universe. Jo, who had become the leader of the Local Heroes by the end of the previous season, is stalling. She doesn’t feel ready to assume the responsibility, and also helping her mother Flo run the diner (Mo was Flo’s mother and the founder) is a full-time job in itself.
The status quo changes with the arrival of Fantor the Accumulator. A fanboy of Erodius, he’s obsessed with collecting memorabilia of the Planet Killer, including the Stones. While Fantor is a goofball, he’s already got several stones and their powers, and is more than a match for the Local Heroes. Kid loses his telekinesis stone to Fantor, and must make do for most of the season with the seemingly less cool “turn into goo” Stone.
But the primary character arc here belongs to Jo. The battle against Fantor shows that the team really wasn’t ready. Jo turns for leadership advice to a veteran, Queen Xhan (who is still recovering from her wounds.) Xhan’s advice isn’t completely wrong, and does enable Jo to toughen up and achieve goals. But it’s a poor match for her team’s collaborative style, and causes a rift between Jo and her mother.
Back at the beginning of Season One, Jo resented how she had been stuck in one place all her life and how much Mo’s Diner absorbed of her time. As her mother/boss, Flo represented that stifling “never gonna get out of this place” feeling. So Flo isn’t the first person Jo goes to for advice, and Jo actively ignores Flo’s suggestions and fails to credit her mother when belatedly learning from it. This also causes friction between Flo and Queen Xhan, as they represent different ends of “compassion” vs. “toughness.”
While this made for an interesting character arc for Jo and some useful group conflict, I felt that the story took Flo’s side maybe a bit too much.
Much of the season is taken up gaining or losing stones, and then the final set of battles against Erodius. Several bit characters from the first season get more screentime, but alien Chuck is accordingly reduced to bit character.
There are some good set pieces, interesting alien designs, and excellent music.
The season ends with a sequel hook, which promises another drastic change in focus.
Content note: Fantasy violence with a couple of actual deaths. The turn to goo power lends itself to some gross-out humor. Still kid-friendly.
If you enjoyed the first season, this one is not a disappointment, and we can hope for an equally fun third season.
