Moths #2

Moths #2

AWA Upshot Studios 2021

Written by J. Michael Straczynski

Illustrated by Mike Choi

Lettered by Sal Cipriano

The next chapter of the ongoing saga of The Resistance takes an intimate look at a very special species of the superhuman race known as The Reborns. Emily Kai is what is known as a "Moth." She was granted immense power by the global pandemic known as "The Great Death," but with a caveat: The moment she taps into the power that resides within her, a clock starts and Emily will have only six months to live. Granted the opportunity to bring immense beauty into the world, but only by paying the ultimate price, Emily embarks on a harrowing journey of self-discovery that will test her to her core and take her to places way beyond her wildest imagination.

One of the greater appeal of this particular story is that Emily doesn’t have a flashy power that looks good to the media, which should priority number one after all right?, yes that is sarcasm. It is a more subtle power but one that has its uses and if anything Emily wanted to make her last days count so being a Moth is important to her and helping people any way she can brings her and those that she helps comfort than its all worth it for her. No wonder she got the power she did.

I like the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented extremely well. The character development that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances they encounter which helps to flesh their personalities out even further. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story you find its much deeper than ou are expecting it to be.

The way that we see this being structured and how the layers within the story are emerging, growing, evolving and strengthening is amazingly well rendered. The layers contain the characterisation, the plot twists and more and what they do is add dimension, depth and complexity to the story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is done impeccably achieved.

The interiors here are mind numbingly gorgeous! The way that we see this being done with whatever modern computer art program this is Mike’s managed to master it. The lifelike realness of these characters is eerie in the best ways possible because it just manage to heighten that they could literally be anyone and you’d never know. That we see backgrounds as prevalently as we do is great to see and how they work within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and overall sense of size and scope to the story is really nice to see. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a marvellous eye for storytelling. The colour work is amazing. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is stunning to see.

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This issue really showcases that you cannot judge a book by its cover because what Emily can do is a lot more than I think even she realises. We’ll see if it’s something new, something of a one time detail or what the whole thing is about. I’m looking forward to seeing and learning more next issue and if Emily feels she’s making the kind of difference she’s was hoping to do. This is beautifully written with some exemplary characterisation and some just totally and completely mind numbing interiors.