Brace yourselves…

Female Furies #2
Writer: Cecil Castellucci
Artist: Adriana Melo
Inks: Hi-Fi
Letters: Carlos M. Mangual
Covers: Dan Panosian
Editor: Brittany Holzherr; Jamie S. Rich
DC Comics

There’s so much to unpack here, none of it pleasant, as we watch Aurelie’s continued mental, physical and emotional degradation at the hands of both Granny Goodness and Willik. Once again this book is one where I have to read it, put it down, come back to it and read it again. It’s upsetting, on a very personal level, watching as Aurelie isn’t believed by the very people who should have her back. Instead her fellow furies see her as a ‘crybaby’ who receives ‘special attention’ from Willik.  Attention that she has very publicly, potentially fatally, stated she wants nothing to do with. Even the fury who will go on to become one of the most beloved heroes in the DC Universe, Big Barda, refuses to listen to her own gut about the sexual and mental assault that Aurelie is enduring. Instead, Barda and the others, see Aurelie’s increasing conscious and vehement protests to what’s going on in Apokalips as weakness.

However, they are nothing compared to Granny Goodness whose willful blindness to what’s happening, is the most frustrating. Yet, her behavior rings true, afterall, she endured the same sort of ‘lessons’ at Darkseid’s hands. Why can’t Aurelie do the same? This series speaks to the generational hurt that comes from someone being abused and then becoming the abuser, or at least complicit in it. When I say that the series is giving me flashbacks to The Color Purple I’m not exaggerating at all.

Adriana Melo and Hi-Fi do excellent work to bolster the storyline, giving you all the brightness and seedy underbelly of Apokolips. However, their best work is saved for the emotional moments, a series of wordless panels showing all Aurelie is going through. It’s devastating.

This book is not messing around and is honestly hard to handle but worth every moment.

Five Dreams Out of Five