She Could Fly taps into a feeling – that feeling that nags at a lot of us. It certainly nags at me. Am I worthwhile? Or am I someone who doesn’t deserve anything? And if I don’t deserve anything, does that makes me bad? She Could Fly taps into an anxiety that seems to permeate our culture these days. It’s almost overwhelming at times; that anxiety spills over into our social media. A constant battle of self-worth is being fought against ourselves, especially among younger generations. When I was a teenager, we didn’t have a platform to share our insecurities and potential faults on.

Of course, the levels of anxiety in She Could Fly are presented through our protagonist Luna, a high school loner who is so thoroughly overwhelmed by how bad she thinks she is that it takes a woman who can literally fly to give her hope that she can be something better than what she imagines herself being. It’s kind of like what Superman is to many. This flying woman has been spotted around the city dozens of times. No one knows who she is. Luna doesn’t care. She wants to fly above it all too – to be free.

The story by Christopher Cantwell is a little disjointed, but that choice only adds to the feeling of living in Luna’s fractured mind. The asides in her head are perfectly timed and lettered by Clem Robbins, creating an increasingly tense atmosphere. Martín Morazzo’s rendering of Luna allows us to immediately sympathize with her. She looks like an every person: that high schooler that doesn’t quite know who she is yet, and with the world so breathlessly big before us now with the internet, it’s hard to imagine trying to figure out who you are with so much to influence you. It’s easier to just assume you don’t fit in, that you are worthless. She Could Fly presents that struggle of finding hope. I certainly didn’t know what to expect when I started reading this book, but I’ve pleasantly been caught off guard by how effective this first issue is, and I’m ready for the second issue to come out.

Creative Team: Mike Christopher Cantwell (writer), Martín Morazzo (artist), Clem Robbins (letters), Miroslav Mrva (colors), Karen Berger (editor), Rachel Roberts (associate editors), Mike Richardson (publisher), Adam Pruett (digital art technician)
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
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