Writer: Joe Corallo Art: Liana Kangas Publisher: Vault Comics
WHAT IS IT?
A story of gods and war, faith and starships.
It's Final Fantasy meets The Expanse, with the color palette of She-Ra and conceptual themes from of Gaiman's American Gods or Pratchett's Small Gods.
WHAT'S IT ABOUT?
(Minor Spoilers)
There are only two gods left.
Brigid is the goddess of the Sun. Poised as the story's antagonist, she and her followers have converted the entire solar system to believe in her, causing the forgotten old gods to die off.
Brigid's sister is the goddess of Death, and her followers are the last bastion against Brigid's aggressions.
But how can they hope to stand against the forces of an entire solar system?
WHAT WORKS?
I appreciate the play against expectations, with the people of the Sun playing the antagonists and the Goddess of Death as our heroine.
Colorist Rebecca Nalty brings a vivid, nearly Vaporwave palette that seems right at home with Liana Kangas's line art
Kangas, for her part, follows the "less is more" belief in this comic. Every line is planned and deliberately placed. If it's unnecessary, it's not there. The effect is a very clean, almost reserved aesthetic, especially combined with the contained and orderly panel style.
Melanie Ujimori's lettering style is similarly elegant, with its borderless balloons. Sometimes, she'll sacrifice simplicity for word balloons with special flourishes for certain characters, but in a way that suits the narrative and art style.
Ujimori's use of translucent sound effects is a fantastic, stylish solution to show action without getting in the way of the art.
One thing I love about Liana's characters is that they look so different from each other. It helps that she & Rebecca Nalty work together to ensure people of color and different body types are represented, but it's like she paid special attention to giving each their own unique design.
The concept of gods fighting over believers is never not interesting and, with how much Joe Corallo has written about comics, I'm looking forward to seeing where he takes this story.
The lead-up to the final splash page is perfectly executed.
WHAT DOESN'T WORK?
This first issue had a lot of setup to do between characters and plot, but felt like more of a prologue to the action to come.
There are so many characters, and we don't deep dive into any of them yet, making it hard to feel very invested in any of them this early on.
WHY SHOULD I READ IT?
She Said Destroy is an ambitious, new sci-fi/fantasy story with an ensemble cast and a Lisa Frank-inspired palette.
It's hard to tell just yet where She Said Destroy plans to take us beyond a fight between two goddesses and their followers, but published by Vault (who always puts out thoughtful, innovative, and disruptive comics) and packed with a creative team of talented people, you can trust that it's going to be great.
WHAT DO I READ NEXT?
If you like the writing:
Oh S#!t It's Kim & Kim by Magdalene Visaggio & Eva Cabrera
The Wicked + The Divine, Vol. 1 by Kieron Gillen & Jamie McKelvie
Wailing Blade by Rich Douek & Joe Mulvey
If you like the art:
Black AF: Devil's Dye by Vita Ayala & Liana Kangas
Captain America by Mark Waid & Chris Samnee
Paper Girls, Vol. 1 by Brian K. Vaughan & Cliff Chiang
ABOUT THE CREATORS
Joe Corallo – Writer
Multitalented: Also writes about comics for Geek.com, ComicMix.com and other websites and edits comics
Editing the Dead Beats Anthology (on Kickstarter NOW) with Eric Palicki
Liana Kangas – Artist
Works in both digital & traditional formats
Multitalented: Her professional background is in marketing and outreach
Rebecca Nalty – Colorist
Outlander: Lives in Ireland
Seems to be drawn toward brighter, more vivid color palettes
Melanie Ujimori – Letterer
Melanie is a Japanese-Okinawan vector artist from Hawai’i currently transplanted to Oregon
Multitalented: Is also a graphic designer, illustrator, and production tech
Adrian F. Wassel – Editor
Name Recognition: Is the CCO & Editor In Chief of Vault Comics, and edits Vault's titles
Also runs Vault with his brother and father
Seems to work very closely and intensely with comic creators when developing stories
HOW DO I BUY IT?
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