Created and Written by Dorphise Jean
Pencils, Inks, Colors, and Letters by Julie Anderson
Variant Cover by Anthony Piper
Destiny is back in issue two but Jean throws a curveball right out of the gate and starts off with a scene showing the aftermath of Destiny’s death. An excellent writing move, giving the reader a shock right at the start gives us all a reason to keep reading. This is the main character, she can’t be dead, but how does she overcome death? Hardly five pages into issue two and the suspense is palpable, the story is propelled into the unknown, asking more questions than answering, and setting up the tension for the story. Jean has great pride in her Haitian heritage and the small glimpses into Haitian culture and language are an engranded feature in the story but also a wonderful extension of Jean as a person. This makes me feel like Jean is truly sharing herself in her writing and truly cares about the characters. The emotion and passion Jean shows for her culture and her comic are nothing short of inspiring. Another thing that Jean does well with her writing is making each issue stand alone. I had a tough time remembering exactly how the first issue ended until I got to Destiny but in the end it didn’t even matter, the second issue is a powerhouse on its own and neither Destiny or the overall story suffers for it. There were a ton of things that I enjoyed a lot about issue two but I think what brought everything together was Destiny’s grandmother, Nana, a strong female that holds down the family and is also unapologetically bad ass. Nana is a weathered old Haitian woman that has a connection to spirits and demons and her abilities are formidable, not sure what other issues have in store for Nana but I’m all in.
I always hold artists that can do it all in high regard because pencilling, inking, and lettering are all hard enough on their own let alone doing it all in one book. Anderson has a very crisp and light pencil lining and it allows for her colors to really shine, the palette is generally a bit lighter and pastel so most of the pages really pop. The character design spans from white and black to asian but all of the designs are beautifully unique and have a charm and style that are all their own. Probably because she is the main character but the look of Destiny is my favorite design. Destiny’s hair being half black and white gives her a distinctive look that is very fitting and fun. Destiny is a dynamic character but her look is never more powerful than when she is in a spirit realm and doing battle, this sequence is by far my favorite and it holds one of my favorite panels of the entire comic.
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