Curse of the Gorgon #2 is a comic written by Brian Hawkins with art by Jeferson Sadzinksi with colors by Antonio Ramos Wong. Mandisa is very shaken after discovering that a man she was with has turned to stone. This is a supernatural comic with heavy references to Greek mythology, erotic moments, and dramatic mystery. The leading lady here is Mandisa Jones, she is a history professor at a community college who unknowingly becomes possessed by Medusa at random times. Bobahaziah is Mandisa’s coworker and closest friend. Percy is an adjunct professor at the college who worships Athena and has specialized weapons. This story begins with a recap of the previous night’s events with Mandisa and the man from the bar at his place. We are then brought back to the present where Mandisa discovers that her one-night stand has turned to stone. The violence here is physical but light. Things move at an overall steady pace with some speedier moments mixed in. The tone is dramatic with an occasional action-movie like vibes. The intensity is pretty high throughout due to the stressful and dangerous situations. Dialogue is made up of realistic conversations, religious-like chants, and some narration from the detective who is on the case. There aren’t any word-heavy pages here. This is an intriguing sequel issue that focuses on building the tension while providing character development and excitement.
The art here is drawn in a smoothly detailed modern style with strong lighting and shading. The color palette here is realistic with a lot of cool tones. This takes place in Washington D.C. and outside of the indoor plant and tree by the sidewalk there isn’t much natural scenery. There are multiple apartments that serve as the primary locations with the second most important place being the city streets. The backgrounds consistently show the actual surroundings; this adds more life to the different scenes. The expression level here is on the higher side as these characters constantly react to what is going on. Emotions shown range from shock and anger to sadness and fear. The faces have an overall average to slightly above-average amount of detail and show the different expressions well. The violence here is physical with no blood or gore and nothing brutal. There is only one page of action and it flows well.
“Is this worth reading?”
Yes, if this is up your alley.
“Would I like this?”
If you like supernatural stories with Greek mythology influences that star Black women and feature a good bit of eroticism along with some drama and mystery then this is for you.
“What would this comic’s film rating be?”
NC-17. Nudity, sexual situations.
“Could I get a quote from the comic?”
“A-a heart attack, it happens all the time.”
Digital Link: https://blaxtraumaprod.gumroad.com/l/ltyim
Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/brianlouisiam/curse-of-the-gorgon-1-2-a-black-erotic-mythical-thriller/description
***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***
Probably Contains Spoilers
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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 24
Violent Pages: 1, for 4% of the comic
Sexy Pages: 5, for 21% of the comic
**The levels below aren’t necessarily maintained throughout the whole comic, but they were definitely reached**
Violence Level – 2
“Wasn’t no tussling at all.”
“Sometimes you gotta hit somebody.”
“I’m getting charged with how many counts of assault?”
“This was a tournament arc.”
“All my life I had to fight.”
Gore Level – 1
“The only thing leaking out your face is tears.”
“Looks like somebody spilled some ketchup.”
“Might need to soak that up with a bath towel.”
“That isn’t supposed to be outside the body.”
“This is a slaughterhouse.”
Death Level – 2
“And everybody lived happily ever after.”
“We might have gone to a couple funerals.”
“It just LOOKS like a serial killer was here.”
“Yeah this was a tragedy.”
“Think Gettysburg.”
Porn Level – 5
“Everybody kept their clothes on.”
“I guess it was too hot for a bra.”
“Sometimes you got to let everything air out.”
“This is like late night Cinemax in the early 2000’s.”
“Oh. This is porn.”
