Best Shots review - Future State: Wonder Woman #2 is visually stunning

Yara Flor's adventure through the Underworld continues in Future State: Wonder Woman #2.

Future State: Wonder Woman #2 credits

Written by Joëlle Jones
Art by Joëlle Jones and Jordie Bellaire
Letters by Clayton Cowles
Published by DC
'Rama Rating: 9 out of 10

Joëlle Jones picks up right where the previous issue left off, with Yara deftly evading Cerberus in an attempt to find her lost Amazonian sister, Potira. Jones does a great job staging the chase sequence with her artwork, showing off Yara's skill with her bolas and her sense of humor as she finds a creative way to get the three-headed hellhound from pursuing her further. After dispatching the beast, Yara turns to her traveling companion, Caipora, only to learn she must continue the rest of the journey on her own.

Jones and color artist Jordie Bellaire ensure that Yara's journey to find the soul of her lost companion is a visual treat. The pages here see open fields of flowers rendered to dust in just a few panels. When Yara meets Hades, he is rendered as a hulking shadowed figure; a complete contrast to his wife, Persephone, who is rendered radiant with a gown full of flowers, one of the few signs of life in the gloom.

The issue really takes off here as Yara is allowed to seek out her fallen comrade in the mass of restless souls trapped here. Jones uses the supernatural aspect of the Underworld to interweave present and past, as we see Potira's death and why Yara is so keen on rescuing her. Jordie Bellaire colors these scenes with bright red and white, shapeless backgrounds, creating a nice contrast that speaks to both the ethereal nature of memory and the gut-wrenching pain that has driven Yara down this path.

The story of Future State: Wonder Woman #2 is ultimately a tale of loss and how heroes persevere through those losses. Jones and Bellaire tell a visually stunning story that also builds Yara Flor's character and shows readers why she's a worthy successor to the Wonder Woman mantle.

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Robert is a Los Angeles-based comics journalist and writer (formerly Omaha, Nebraska). He currently writes for Newsarama and Adventures in Poor Taste.