How do we describe Goddess Mode #2, from DC’s Vertigo to a new reader?
Wellll, it’s about Cassandra, a young woman who works on garbage detail in the new dystopian future. The surroundings are a little Blade Runner, but with full spectrum colour. More about that later. Anyway, Cassandra is also a dedicated hacker. Through no real fault of her own, she ends up inside the secret world of digital life. A far-flung experience, full of threats and danger.
She has help, however. There is a group of superpowered girls at her side, in analog and digital worlds both. What is the huge corporation Hermeticorp up to? Why is Cassandra a target?
It’s a smart, literate, compressed tale. It is detailed, complex and fascinating. The writing, by Zoe Quinn, embeds drama, longing, and conflict into this sci-fi tale so smoothly that it is deceptively hypnotic. And so is the colour-drenched look of the panels and pages. There is a ton of stuff going on here. Future visions, well-executed figures, and faces. Artist Robbi Rodriquez and colourist Rico Renzi render the heck out of this comic.
It’s madcap, technicolor attention-deficit material, but it’s a blast to consume. You might find yourself reading these issues over and over, each time gleaning a new layer of enjoyment from Goddess Mode.
DC Vertigo, Goddess Mode #2, $3.99 for 2 pages of content. Not rated, perhaps Teen
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