New truths surface and changes everything.
Creative Staff:
Story: Stephen Mooney
Art: Jethro Morales
Colors: Dinei Ribeiro
Letterer: Taylor Esposito
What They Say:
The Queen of the Jungle Returns! Featuring an all-star creative team and the most amazing roster of cover artists this side of the jungle! The thrilling adventures combines the classic elements of the legendary character along with a modern sensibility that will make it the perfect debut for fans new and old! And lookit those covers: Linsner! Parillo! Besch! Suydam! Cosplay!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The series has had a solid enough opening so far even if it feels like it’s pulling too much from well-known properties while trying to make the whole thing it’s own. That’s not a bad approach but I always hate it when I end up seeing other properties so clearly in something that it distracts me sometimes. Writer Stephen Mooney and artist Jethro Morales set things up well and left me looking forward to more as they’re both exceptionally strong talents that are more than capable of working this. Sheena is such an odd character in that there’s a kind of timelessness about her but at the same time a kind of dated aspect that keeps her from being used too widely. It’s a delicate line to walk but one worth trying because the payoff tends to be really good.
With Sheena having made her real first encounter with the giant cat in the jungle out there now, she’s doing her thing to track it and figure out what’s going on. And she’s more capable than what the biodome operators are giving her as she tracks the creature down to the lair that is actually a den as it’s filled with a lot of human elements, including Beatrice’s items. That has Sheena pulling to the side of the camp in order to have the upper hand when Beatrice does come back but we see that Beatrice has a good deal of skill herself at this point. It’s a good encounter that eventually puts the two on even footing to simply sit down and talk and figure out exactly what’s going on, at least for the reader. Beatrice knows and Sheena is just a glimmer away from getting the last bit of truth she needs to understand it.
And it is fairly simple in that Beatrice has been hunting down those that have set all of this up in here so that it’s a killing field for sport that makes the family business of Sheena a lot of money. The two are fairly well aligned here in beliefs and we see some of Beatrice’s past in Haiti that explains aspects of her, but that comes after she reveals her ability to transform into the giant orange glowing-ish cat that kills. And attempts to deal with Sheena as well. The balance of power seems really askew here but Sheena has a lifetime of survival that gives her the real edge here. But in truth, it’s her ability to subdue and talk that gives her what she needs, to get through to Beatrice that they are aligned. It’s not played in a hokey kind of way but rather something where it’s made clear to Beatrice that she’s had her pound of flesh and now the truly big game needs to be taken down in the way of the modern world.
In Summary:
Sheena’s moving in a fairly straightforward line at this point and there are no real surprises, though the bit with Beatrice and the truth about her could be one. But just the visual design of the animal that attacked her before made it clear that something unusual and not natural was at play here. Beatrice and Sheena are an interesting pairing to watch come together so I’m curious to see where it all goes and how it handles itself as they shift gears from dealing with those in the biodome to those that own and operate it. It continues to read easy and look great which makes for a fun experience overall.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: January 26th, 2022
MSRP: $3.99
