At the center of the story is Mayura Howard, a mysterious woman who made significant advancements in technology that allowed her to fly ”“ until that tech failed her. Luna bore witness to Mayura“s ascendance, but her own unusual mental state was altered/enhanced in the process. So far Luna has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and by the time we get to the second issue of “The Lost Pilot”“ the good doctors have added hypomania to the list of mental challenges she is facing. The unpronounceable meds she is being prescribed feigns a sense of light-heartedness, but this book is weighty in all of the right places. There are government conspiracies, international espionage and plenty of heads that get blown off. But the substance of SHE COULD FLY resides in the minds of its characters, many of whom suffer from mental maladies that in our real world would be ignored or (over) medicated, but in Cantwell“s world, mental health (or the absence of it) is depicted through a compellingly holistic frame.
Chapter Two of “The Lost Pilot”“ opens in a dream sequence in the mind of Luna. One of Luna“s abilities allows her to commune with the dead ”“ or at least think that she can commune with the dead. In the opening dream sequence she sits “Indian style”“ with Joan of Arc as they eat yellow wallpaper and talk about boys throughout history that they may or may not like. It“s a brilliant opener ”“ even for a series that has too many classic panels/images to recount in one review. Martin Morazzo and Miroslav Mrva have given this book a distinct look that always feels familiar. Its as if the visual art of SHE COULD FLY is actually in on the mind-bending effects of the story, except that the art works those effects on the reader as much as it does on the characters in the story itself.
There is an important research paper/project to be written about this dream sequence with Luna and Joan of Arc chatting and eating the yellow wallpaper. Charlotte Perkins Gilman“s classic short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper,”“ was published in 1892. Yet it still resonates as a referendum on how mental health is (mis)treated and particularly how women who have mental health challenges are treated in medical institutions and by the society in which we live. There is much more to say about this short story and these panels from SHE COULD FLY.
This will read as hyperbole. It isn“t. The author“s note section of this series, “In-Flight”“ is the bravest and at times the most powerful addenda that any writer is making to their work in comics right now. SHE COULD FLY“s value does not rely on Chris Cantwell“s “In-Flight”“ notes, but readers will be edified and inspired by them. Here“s a snippet from #4 of the first story arc: “[T]here“s this idea going around that comics can“t be good and about real things and reflect the real world at the same time (unless the characters are white men). I just want to say that“s bullshit. Stories are power, and empowering. Drama assembles the simultaneous chaos of life into order, or at least some semblance of meaning. And when I say that, I don“t mean it“s a message, I mean it“s a mirror.”“ 5/5!
[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
Writer: Christopher Cantwell
Artist: Martin Morazzo
Colorist: Miroslav Mrva
Editor: Karen Berger
Cover Artist: Martin Morazzo
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