Oh my gosh, what an installment! Really great, really complicated. I loved the focus shift to other characters from the first book, even though it's still a great ensemble cast. It feels now like everyone has had their time. The art is dynamic and makes me laugh or cringe right out loud.

I absolutely loved the continuation of this story! Real Hero Shit 2: Harder Than It Looks by Kendra Wells picks up 6 months after the first story, but is itself a self-contained adventure that can be read as a standalone story.

The adventuring party needs to get Prince Eugene back to the kingdom because there is a bounty out on their heads. They split up and things go immediately sideways as chaos ensues. The story is messy and slice of life-esque; filled with bad decisions, self doubt, genre expected tomfoolery, violence, destiny come to roost and damning secrets.

It is adventure, romance, representation and queer goodness, with a healthy side of fantastical adventure shenanigans that will appeal to the adult reader seeking a low-stakes but interesting quest.

The illustrations are very detailed and vivid. The colours used tie the scenes together and cycle the story through its arcs ranging from warm to vibrant to vivid to stark and back again. Overall, a fast-paced and funny graphic novel that is witty and sexy and emotional; can’t wait for the next instalment.

Thanks NetGalley and Iron Circus Comics for this free arc/copy of Real Hero Shit 2: Harder Than It Looks; all opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Just like the first volume of the series, Real Hero Shit: Harder than it Looks is SO funny and SO emotional. I continue to absolutely adore every single character in this story and think the world-building is incredibly neat. It was really cool to start to get a deeper look into the factions and religious aspects of this world.

And, of course, it's very queer and very sexy, as the best D&D-esque story should be.

I gasped at the very end because what do you mean that's all we get for now?

Quick Synopsis: A spoiled prince seeks adventure for some fun and stumbles across a wanted sign that fits the bill. He joins a party that doesn’t quite want him, and they set out on their way.

Book One: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars.
With all of the new Dungeons and Dragons stuff going on in my life, I may be biased. ALAS! I enjoyed this alot. BUT BOI WHEN I SAY I WAS BEGGING FOR HOCUS TO BE A PALADIN! (Is a paladin in my own campaign). A Cleric suits them just fine, but a Paladin would have been awesooommmmeeeeee! Regardless, I loved the squabbles amongst the crew and the characters in general. I feel like a story like this just wouldn’t work without super good, fleshed out characters and this one hit the target dead on. AND LET’S TALK ABOUT THE SURPRISE SMUT I DIDN’T SEE COMING! GIRL WHEN I SAY I FLIPPED THAT PAGE BACK AND FORTH, COMPLETELY UNABLE TO COMPREHEND WHAT I WAS SEEING. Now… the couple it involved?… Meh…

I’m rooting for Hocus and Michel in book two ya’ll. Fingers crossed.

Harder Than It Looks-Book Two: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars.

So glad I was able to jump back into this world as fast as I did lol You could say I partially got my wish lmao I won’t spoil this time around, but let’s just say Michel really showed himself in this book. WINK WINK

I think the ‘Character driven’ Goal may have backfired tho… This one was good, don’t get me wrong. I was hollering and squealing the entire time, BUT I feel like there was a little too much going on with the characters in this one. Normally I would be completely okay with that, but in this case, it was like we were given a goal and because that goal would have been too simple to just ‘accomplish’ our characters were thrown right into the shit of it involving things that weren’t exactly important to the main goal. Hmmm… Like I said, not bad. The story is still super good, the characters are great, and the artwork is phenomenal… I just didn’t like it as much as the first one.

My thanks to Iron Circus Comics, the Author, and NetGalley for the Digital ARC. This book is expected to be published July 14th, 2026! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧Bye~Bye~

Fantastic art, story, and characters. Everyone gets their chance to shine in this entry, and even with the party being split neither part of the narrative suffers, so it doesn't really feel like there is an A plot and a "side" plot... it is all just very good plot. While returning readers are going to get the most out of this, new readers can absolutely start here without needing to read Real Hero Shit.

The first volume of this story line was really good and there's a lot of pressure on this second v0lume to keep it all going. It did not disappoint!

I loved getting to see backstory on Hocus, it was excellent to see more into eir character and backstory and I need to know what's going to happen going forward after the amulet incident! I'm really glad that Marcel got a little more development as well, grumpy edge-lord characters can only go so far before I get irritated and bored by them. So seeing more behind that dark and brooding thing was excellent.

And I would not be at all sad to see a little polycule come out of this story. Can't wait for the next volume!!!

The plot THICKENS! This sequel was rife with revealed character secrets, plot and political twists, and one heck of a cliffhanger. How much can you hide from your partymates, and for how long?

I love these casually queer characters and I'm excited to see how this series continues to unfold.