I have to start this review with a disclaimer; I consider the writer of Sugar Glider, Daniel Clifford to be a good friend of mine. I occasionally offer him some bad advice and lackluster support, which is why he felt it necessary to give me a mention in the special thanks section at the front of the second issue of Sugar Glider. This will in no way affect the way I write my review, you can try to bribe me with your 'special thanks' Clifford but we both know this book is all you and artist Gary Bainbridge and I'll judge it as so ;-)

Sugar Glider #2 starts with our hero, Susie Sullivan, still reeling from her first foray into super-heroics, battered and bruised with her family now aware of and condemning her desire to become Newcastle's finest vigilante. On the delicately, well designed cover there is a pull quote that top's the page "The Empire Strikes Back of Comics has arrived", this comment is so acutely accurate, with issue one things ended on such a downer with everything falling down around our heroine. So, does this mean this next installment should be 'Return of the Jedi'? I can't even decide whether that would be a good thing or not?

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Over the past few months I've gotten to know Daniel Clifford pretty well, either through listening to him lose his mind on his and co-host Lily's excellent podcast; North East Geek Feast, enjoying a Halo: Reach wild ride in true Mr Toad fashion or endless twittering back and forth. So when the opportunity came up to talk to Daniel about his latest project with the Paper Jam Comics Collective; Sugar Glider I jumped at the chance to delve deeper into that wonderfully weird mind:

So what is Sugar Glider all about?

Sugar Glider is a costumed crime-fighter comic based on Tyneside but like all the superhero comics I like best, it's more about the person in the costume than it is about the crime-fighting. And the person in the costume is Susie Sullivan; a teenager with no clue what to do with her life. Everyone around her has a clear path in life - her mam is a nurse, her sister is a mother and her best friend is a sports prodigy. But no matter what Susie tries, nothing ever sticks. She's done all the dead-end jobs you can think of and tried out fashion design, wildlife photography, filmmaking, judo, athletics, etc etc. But she can't commit. I really think this is a story people can relate to - everyone's under so much pressure to decide one thing to do for the rest of their life - it doesn't even matter that the 'one job for life' thing just doesn't happen anymore. But then there's the escapist part of the story - she's found herself with this gliding suit and is trying out something a lot less ordinary - super heroics!

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