Frank Cho’s Fight Girls builds on the contest between six women (four were lost last issue!) to rule the Empire, but there may be a conspiracy behind it! The first issue ended with the prime minister hiring an operative, Agent Matteo, to find out about Xandra Blackwater! Issue #2 features a Cho cover with the eyepatch wearing 7, the backside of 3, and the head of a giant snapping turtle, above the dark haired 10. The surviving contestants, we have lost 1, 5, 6, and 9, walk up to the teleport platform of the floating city, Grace Point One. There is the close-up of short-haired contestant, 2, Jaxa Wyman, as they are transported to the desert with several buttes. This is “Challenge 2: Desert”, there is a two page spread of the desert, contestants, with camera drones floating overhead, and a series of vertical panels. Jaxa sees the teleport pad goal on a butte which she estimates to the eye-patched 7, Xandra Blackwater, to be 10 miles away. Xandra reaches for a rock so Jaxa holds her back with her leg extended in a kick.
Xandra explains that she was trying to warn Jaxa and throws the rock at the sand. Two large worms burst out of the sand, they have splayed seven labrum at the edge of their mouths, and covered with small horns, Graboids! The commentators call them Worms of White Sands and that the area is called Hell’s Sandbox. Xandra starts to run while the others are stunned at the sight. Jaxa stays behind and then uses her gymnastic skills to evade the worms. The newscasters note she was the champion at the Pan-Continental Games. She is able to outrun a worm. Xandra smiles to 8, Rache Lauren, admiting she did her survival training in the desert for the corps. A military woman? She has the advantage here. At Helgrave, the City Hall Records department, Agent Mateo asks for the data on Xandra Blackwater, saying he works for Cat Fancy magazine. The receptionist looks like a goofy version of Ed Grimley, I must say. We see him scrolling through Xandra’s records, all of her family died due to a gas leak. The records of the Blackwater family, suddenly includes Xandra, and then she is missing from the screen.
He finds an address at Sector 14, moving to different suites, the receptionist contacts someone about the records check. Jaxa and 8 are running, when a giant scorpion emerges from the sand, it’s tail tries to strike Jaxa, but she is too fast for it. The commentators call it a King Crawler. A slightly smaller sized scorpion than the one in Ray Harryhausen’s Clash of the Titans (1981). 8 and Jaxa run towards a canyon with the King Crawler following them. Above the canyon, Xandra strains to push over a boulder, and it stomps the King Crawler. Jaxa suspects that Xandra tried to kill them. They have reached the butte with the teleport pad. Jaxa runs forward, not fearing any trap. The Kaiju-sized turtle smashes upwards, sending Jaxa and Xandra flying while 8 can only watch. Another Harryhausen creature was the giant turtle in One Million Years B.C. (1966). It is called a Rock Turtle by the newscasters. This may be an alien world, but turtles are aquatic, tortoises are land based. Contestant #3, Kelsey Otu, is crushed by the Rock Turtle as 4, Tora Winter, takes cover. The creature smashes the way to the teleport pad. Above the Rock Turtle’s shell is Xandra and some others.
They debate on what to do while Xandra gets a running start and leaps the distance to the teleport pad! She smiles, but trips up Jaxa, Xandra pulls her down and gets 2 in a neck lock. While they struggle, 10, Pondo Shen, and 8, Rache Lauren, run past them. They are teleported back with Pondo reveling in her victory. Xandra pushes away Jaxa and teleports away. It looks like there is a rivalry with 7 and 2, which would be 9 times the fun. Meanwhile, 4 is still trapped by the Rock Turtle, she throws a rock to distract it, and makes her run. This is actually up the turtle’s back to reach the teleport pad! At Helgrave Sector 5, the Shady Pines Nursing Home, the operative is shown Gladys McSwiggin. She suffers from a failing memory and apparently likes cats. The man injects her with a neuro enhancer which will temporarily return her memory, but kills her! He shows her picture of Xandra Blackwater, whom she does not recognize, she says Xandra died in a school fire! Xandra has faked her identity?, so what is her plan, to finish off the contestants and disqualify herself? The big question is who is McSwiggin? A retired woman, owner of a pub, or an animal expert? A nice tribute to Ray Harryhausen that is calling for a film adaptation! Fight Girls keeps the action and mystery going with the McSwiggin mystery!
Four Drones out of Five!
#FightGirls, #FrankCho, #HellsSandbox, #WormsofWhiteSands, #KingCrawler, #RockTurtle
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