Future State: Wonder Woman #2: Wait For Me, I’m Comin’

Joelle Jones just knows how to pluck at the heartstrings. After introducing the best new Future State character in Yara Flor, she gives us a fine twist on the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice, all while drawing the heck out of it! This is page after page of perfection, a wonderfully paced issue with story enough for several issues.

So to sum up: Yara enters the Underworld to rescue her companion Potira to the land of the living, already setting readers up for a tragedy. But Jones twists it in a key way, changing it from a tale of distrust (as with Orpheus), to one that asks her to trust in fate and forge her own path.

It’s this small change that really makes the issue. Yara is forced to confront the fact that some things can’t be changed, and she’ll need to grow and become a hero in her own way, rather than holding on to the past. It’s a thrilling issue, one that moves breathlessly from scene to scene, propelled by Jones’ fluid and beautiful art. The twist hits right when you think things are going to turn out OK (because of course they should!), and when it happens, Jones doesn’t linger, because that’s not how stories progress. They have to keep moving forward, which is a piece of wisdom Potira implores Yara to learn. To be honest, actually reviewing this issue is really hard because it’s so good. Anything else said will just probably add to the heaps of justifiable praise for the book. The deity designs are fantastic, Jones writes and draws good humor—Yara’s interaction with the Fates is a standout bit for its simplicity and rhythm—and in general knows how to make a good comic.

Jordie Bellaire turns in characteristically great work, her pastel palette and lighting choices accentuating the details, particularly in the contrast between Hades and Persephone. They’re just so sumptuous and lovely, a perfect fit for Jones’ art. Letterer Wes Abbott uses the same stylistic tools from the Wonder Woman ongoing to lend things a sense of continuity.

The only criticism of this series was that it was too short. But knowing that Jones is going to be giving readers more Yara Flor in May takes the sting out of it.