Black Mask Studios 2017
Created & Written by Magdalene Visaggio
Created & Illustrated by Eryk Donovan
Coloured by Claudia Aguirre
Lettered by Zakk Saam
Well the science fiction-action-romance comes to it’s not quite Earth shattering conclusion this issue. I’m a fan of the fact that this story focuses on smarts, both book and street, to really tell the story. We don’t need another hero, we don’t need to know the way home, we want to see characters that we can not only relate to on a personal level but at the same time will inspire us as well.
I’m gonna get my small complaint out of the way early here. How many times do we need to be reminded that Nat’s a trans character? I mean I don’t know anyone who goes around saying “This gay boy, or this Lesbian, this hetero, is going to…” so why the need to keep Nat referring to herself using Trans as a descriptive word while beating us over the head with the reminder of part of what she is? Being Trans shouldn’t consume who she is so why make that such a huge issue? Once it was established that should have been enough in my opinion, it really kind of makes me question why her use of this is different than someone else’s?
Sumesh and Nat not only make one of the cutest couples around but I love that their inherent differences also bond them. From Sumesh being the brainy one and Nat being more adventurous and daring they seem to balance each other out splendidly. Throw in Wayne and well it’s like this little geek gang that you kind of want to see more from. That they are up against a woman who is very stereotypical crazy this time around well that’s just icing in the cake. What they could do together as a group is mind boggling.
I like Eryk’s interior artwork here. The linework is smooth, strong and full of attention to detail. The use of page layouts through the utilisation of angles, perspective and backgrounds delight me with how much the flesh out not just the story but the bigger picture. Also he really manages to capture the transitioning of Nat extremely well and that’s not easy to do. The faces, facial expressions and body language do as much for the characterisation as the words.
While okay so Zero’s a bit of a megalomaniac who believes only she can save the world blah blah blah the characterisation is actually very good. We get a good solid clear picture of each person through their dialogue and that’s nice to see. Also that this doesn’t quite go the way I think any of us thought it would was great to see. That parts are left unanswered doesn’t bother me it just means there’s something they can visit at a later date should they so desire.
The ending was one of those break out the kleenex moments for me and after everything we saw I think we needed that! It’s a great story, with one heck of a solid premise and it’s execution while not flawless has been wonderful to see. This has been a fun well crafted story and we need more like it.