Zenescope Entertainment 2017
Written by Latoya Morgan
Illustrated by Daniel Maine
Coloured by Leonardo Paciarotti
Lettered by Taylor Esposito of Ghost Glyph Studio
Robyn has finally taken down the monsters and villains that have plagued New York for far too long. Now, with the streets safe again, Robyn unfortunately isn’t going to get to enjoy them. After being transported to an otherworldly, high tech, maximum security prison, she must fight for her life from some of the very creatures she has placed there. Will she survive with enough of herself intact to get back to the city she calls home?
This my friends is why we keep going if you were on the fence with the first issue. Okay so I wasn’t entirely thrilled by but it did show potential and this issue makes everything kind of coalesce into what it needs to be. I can see a direction now that I didn’t see before and then with a snap of the fingers it all started to make sense to me here. There’s that one inexplicable moment where that last piece of the puzzle fits into place and you sit back look at it and get excited over it. That happened for me this issue and what Latoya does with the story, writing, pacing all of it really proves exactly what she’s capable of and that’s thrill readers with a solid story.
I’m enjoying the fact that we still aren’t one hundred percent sure why she’s here we do get a few clues and it’s enough to hook you and leave you on the line. With new characters and budding friendships, well it’s Robyn so more like working partners feels like it’s being done right. Robyn is one hell of a messed up woman, her head is some place I never want to visit and I mean that. She’s this strong willed, independent woman and she’s angry and headstrong and unwilling to listen and the way that Latoya is capturing that essence here is extremely well done.
Daniel is impressing me here as well. His eye for storytelling is strong as he aptly demonstrates through the way pages are layed out as well as the use of angles and perspective. While a prison, even on here in the middle of an enchanted nowhere backgrounds are going to be hard to utilise but he does and he does it well. There really is a great classic comic book style, feel and tone that comes from this work that is utterly amazing to see. Oh and thanks for such tasteful use of the obligatory prison shower scene.
Actually I’m very impressed with the book on the whole. There’s a real sense of maturity going on here that I love seeing. From the way Latoya is treating these characters to the way Daniel brings it to life it has this growth to it that is delightful to see. While the essence of Robyn remains the same, why should she change drastically it should happen slowly with each new adventure there’s return to somewhat normal well at least by societal standards. Or at least heal what’s wrong with her inner self and sense of self worth which is what I think caused the rift with Marian at the start.
So the way that this story is being done has a nice ebb and flow to it. I kind of wish issue one and two were a giant sized opener because together they really make sense. It still makes me mad, okay not really but still, that I have no idea the real purpose of putting Robyn in this prison. If someone really wanted to kill her there are at least a dozen different ways to go about it than something this elaborate. I mean this prison isn’t an ideal place to put a person like her. A caged Tiger isn’t something you want to have to deal with and that’s exactly what they’ve done to Robyn here.
How she’s able to meet the right people, or the right people find her and put her through these paces that might break a normal person only fuel her desire to fight harder. Not smarter mind you but harder and I long for the day that she adds smarter to the mix. In the meantime her mistrust of people is what leads her to this solitary lifestyle she currently has and it’s nice to see that everyone, meaning everyone who has written her adventures, that they keep pushing her to accept people and make her work with them. It’s the kind of thing that really makes her who she is and how she’s going to grow and adapt to life.
I love when Zenescope keeps moving forward with the smart, intelligent writing and characterisation. This is modern storytelling and it’s strong and interesting.