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A review by panels2pages
Victor LaValle's Destroyer by Dietrich Smith, Victor LaValle
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Destroyer is a complex discussion about race relations in America. LaValle reexamines Frankenstein's motivations and creates a new iteration of the mad scientist--Dr. Josephine Baker. After losing her son, she spirals into grief, "steels" herself as she calls it, and is determined to bring the entire country to justice for her son's senseless murder.
Dr. Baker says she'd be a hero if she were a man, fulfilling her quest for vengeance. It would be lauded. But because she's a woman she's treated like she's crazy--mad. She knows she's going to be viewed as an "angry Black woman" and that infuriates her even more. Shouldn't she be infuriated? Watching the cop who shot her young and defenseless son suffer no consequences?
This graphic novel explores so much about motherhood and familial sacrifice, too. It asks if humanity doesn't deserve the destruction awaiting it, but it never fully commits to that nihilism. Instead, Baker's "monster", Akai, is a beacon of hope and innocence. He shuns death and destruction even as his mother is manipulating him to achieve her ends. It's a really wonderful, fast-paced story that could easily serve as a love letter to Mary Shelley as much as a scathing metaphor for this country's treatment of Black people.
Dietrich Smith's art is fantastic throughout. There are some truly clever page designs with beautiful composition, and wonderful expressions on so many characters. The Creature was terrifying but I loved every panel with him.
Dr. Baker says she'd be a hero if she were a man, fulfilling her quest for vengeance. It would be lauded. But because she's a woman she's treated like she's crazy--mad. She knows she's going to be viewed as an "angry Black woman" and that infuriates her even more. Shouldn't she be infuriated? Watching the cop who shot her young and defenseless son suffer no consequences?
This graphic novel explores so much about motherhood and familial sacrifice, too. It asks if humanity doesn't deserve the destruction awaiting it, but it never fully commits to that nihilism. Instead, Baker's "monster", Akai, is a beacon of hope and innocence. He shuns death and destruction even as his mother is manipulating him to achieve her ends. It's a really wonderful, fast-paced story that could easily serve as a love letter to Mary Shelley as much as a scathing metaphor for this country's treatment of Black people.
Dietrich Smith's art is fantastic throughout. There are some truly clever page designs with beautiful composition, and wonderful expressions on so many characters. The Creature was terrifying but I loved every panel with him.