By Mark Rodriguez
Jennie Janus is a shy and awkward college student, but when her split personality kicks in she becomes the fearless and bad-ass superheroine Arachna. After winning an epic battle against Kumo and Dr. Diabolique, her adventures continue as a new threat has set their eyes on her. Finally the second issue of the successful Kickstarter/Indiegogo campaign from X-53 Studios is here!!
The Most Dangerous Game- opens with some mutant rat thugs monologuing while Arachna sneaks into their lair through the sewers. One of the men explains how times got tough and his wife left and he eventually became homeless until Dr. Diabolique found him and spliced him with rat DNA. Now they have to lay low until Diabolique comes back for them. One of them says they wished the Doc spliced some chicks for them. Arachna swoops in and says if they play their cards right she might watch Ratatouille with them.
Arachna asks them where Diabolique is and the rat men say they don't know and haven't seen him since he mutated them. More mutated thugs show up as Arachna tries to fight her way through them, and they end up piling up on her. Arachna is overwhelmed and is almost unmasked until a mysterious man kicks a barrel of burning oil to make the rat men run away. Arachna asks where the Doc is before she passes out. The man says he expected more from an American woman.
The man takes Arachna over to his place and works on healing her up, as he also works on pruning his bonsai plants. Arachna is still unconscious and her outfit has been removed, except for her mask, showing that her body is covered in scratches. The man even cuts off Arachna's ponytail.
Arachna wakes up, now wearing a black kimono. The man introduces himself as Ji-Ho and he has come from South Korea to see her. He has nursed her back to health and saved her from the Rat Pack. He has seen potential in her from the videos and news about her, but potential means nothing if it isn't honed. He offers to train her. Arachna kindly declines the offer and he says she had been defeated by the enemy and if she doesn't improve she might lose more than her clothes the next time.
For the next two weeks, Ji-Ho trains Arachna to better herself and improve even without her super powers. She mostly accepted this to improve as a hero and not get captured and drugged by Diabolique ever again. As they leap throughout the city a woman is watching them from the distance. Ji-Ho tells Arachna that he has come to America to train a worthy successor so his philosophy lives on. He also says she must know where she came from so she can know where she's going, or her past will return to haunt her. Arachna states she doesn't know how she got her powers. She wonders if she mentally blocked the event and if her Jennie persona knows.
The next morning, Jennie wakes up at her waitress job as her boss tells her they finally have a customer. She greets the woman there and listens to her talk while she serves her, until the woman calls her Arachna by name. Jennie tries to play it off, but the woman says that she has been spying on her with drones for a while, so she does in fact know who she is. She also shows her an image of Diabolique being captured and held in a cell. Her employer wants dinner with her. Jennie could feel her Arachna persona resurface. She figures since this is Sunday she can deal with this and be back in time for Jennie's Monday afternoon Fashion Class.
Later on both women fly over to Isle Jaecar in a personal jet. Arachna asks more about her and the woman says her master is a big game hunter and has been on many safaris. As they arrive, the woman steps out and Arachna says her collar clashes with the rest of her jungle outfit. The woman says her name is Tayanna, and her outfit it mostly to conserve the old ways of Mixcoatl. Her collar is a sign of submission towards her master, the lord of the island.
The master of the island arrives, and introduces himself as Jaecar. He has named the island after himself since he has tamed it. Arachna seems smitten by him. He wishes to see her lovely face, as Tayanna and Diabolique have already seen it. Arachna says that's two people too many to have already seen her maskless, but she'll consider it if he plays his cards right.
Jaecar takes Arachna for a tour of the island explaining that he was going to track down Gorean, but she had already captured him. He also found out about how she defeated Kumo. He says they're both hunters and they prefer to go after quality rather than quantity. He eventually sold his huge collection to buy this island and build his home here.
He leads her to her a cage where Diabolique is being held and Arachna says he looks like he's seen better days. Diabolique says he sees Meiko in his nightmares. She says he deserves it for everything he'd done to her and everyone else. She climbs on top of the cage and says she should squash him. He says he regrets nothing except what happened to Meiko, but his wife still needs him. Arachna is surprised he has a wife and says there really is someone for everyone.
Later on Arachna has dinner with Jaecar and Tayanna. Jaecar says he personally hunted the boar and fished the barracuda that they're eating, and years ago, Tayanna's feet stomped on the grapes used to make the wine she's drinking. His proposal is for her to stay on Isle Jaecar as they could use another hunter. Arachna politely declines, saying someone still had to bring Diabolique to justice, or dunk him in the Atlantic. Tayanna is surprised and asks if she won't kill him for everything he's done. Arachna starts slurring her words and notices she's been drugged again. She collapses to the floor.
Everything starts looking trippy (as does the art) as Arachna tries to fight. Jaecar says that she was captured the moment she set foot on the island. He's been working with Diabolique and the whole thing was a ruse to lure her to the island, knowing she'd be looking everywhere for him. Before finally passing out, they put an explosive collar on her and Jaecar tells her that they will hunt her relentlessly until he breaks her like he did to Tayanna.
Tayanna wakes Arachna up later and tells her to forgive her, she has to obey or they'll kill her. Arachna thinks to herself she's glad she was trained to maintain her focus and prevent her split personality from coming out randomly. The last thing she needs is to turn into Jennie now.
Later on Tayanna safely removes the collar from Arachna so the hunt can begin, as Jaecar adjusts to his new powers. Her mission is to get to the seaplane without getting caught. Arachna uses her webs to cover a lot of ground through the island until her webline gets shot. Arachna falls and steps on a trap; a pit full of spikes covered by grass. She is impaled by one of the spikes. She climbs out and gets shot by an arrow in her hand. As she pulls it out, Jaecar says he could have aimed for the heart but he didn't wish to cut the hunt so short.
Arachna thanks him for dinner but says they should see other people as she shoots several webs at him (she can fire an individual web from each of her fingers at the same time). She tries to get away as he cuts away with the webs with his machete. A swinging log trap knocks Arachna down as Jaecar says only he knows his way around his booby traps. He hits her in the back of the head and pins her down. He asks her to submit and she says no. Jaecar knocks her out. Later on Jaecar has a photo taken of himself having defeated Arachna.
Later on, Diabolique is having a nightmare of Meiko burning alive and blaming him for leaving her to die in the explosion. She pulls out her sai and moves towards him as he screams in terror. His screams awaken Arachna who is still bandaged up.
Tayanna tends to her and says Jaecar will wait until she's healed up before hunting her again. She says once she was down for a month as Jaecar nursed her back to health, all the while getting in her head. Tayanna advises Arachna to focus on healing and to just give up; she will get used to the chains. Arachna says she will focus on healing...but to fight another day.
For the second hunt, Arachna tries leaping from tree to tree, keeping off the ground and avoiding use her webs. One of the trees has a mutated jaguar on it, and she knocks it into the river below. She sees another mutated panther with a scorpion tail. Arachna creates a ball of webs and tosses it onto the scorpion tail. Just then the jaguar jumps out of the water and slashes her across the back. Arachna falls and is surrounded by the mutated beasts. Jaecar arrives to finish the job.
Arachna quickly fires a web onto his wrist-mounted crossbow and yanks it off him. She then leaps in with a strong punch to the face that knocks him into a tree making a coconut land on his head. Jaecar still manages to throw a bolas around her neck, with the steel balls clocking her on the head. He takes this quick chance to run at her and hit her with a knee to the face, knocking her out. Jaecar wins again. Another photo is taken.
The next day Arachna is presented with Jaecar's mutated animals as he sits on his throne with Tayanna chained up near him. She says she'll feed Diabolique to them the first chance she gets. Jaecar says she reminds him of someone but he broke her spirit many moons ago. There are pictures on the wall of the many times Jaecar has captured and defeated Tayanna. Arachna says he's not the first to have captured her, as she thinks that she's been held back by Jennie for years. She states the only thing that will break will be her chains, and she thinks the same thing goes for Jennie.
The third hunt arrives as Arachna is now dressing up in a jungle-theme bikini. Tayanna is surprised at how brave she spoke towards Jaecar. Arachna tells her not to tell him about the outfit so that it's a surprise. She asks him who Jaecar really is, but all Tayanna knows is that he's an apex predator at the top of the food chain.
Arachna walks through the river, masking her scent and leaving her costume behind. She soon sees Jaecar hiding in a tree and shoot some webs at him to knock him off. As they fight in the river, Jaecar tries to drown her but she grabs an urchin and bashes it on his arm. Arachna goes for the attack and punches him to the ground. She pins her knee up against him and says she's taking the seaplane. The doc, Tayanna and he will all be coming with her. Jaecar is surprised he lost, but he did manage to claw her.
Diabolique is talking to his wife via his laptop as she chews him out. He tells her he will return from his business trip soon. She says she misses him a bit and hates going shopping alone. Tayanna steps in and says they both have collars, he just has his around his finger. Diabolique asks if she's been eavesdropping on him and she says the walls are thin by design. Tayanna says he'll never leave the island since he means too much to Jaecar and knows too much. It will be a matter of time before he gets his own explosive collar.
Tayanna offers herself to him and he shuts her down. Diabolique says all the horrible things he's done to support his wife will be for nothing if he doesn't stay true to her. Tayanna says if they don't act against Jaecar, he'll never see his wife again. Diabolique doesn't believe her and says for all he knows this could be a test of loyalty from Jaecar. He tells her to go. Tayanna hears the front door creak and says that the hunt must be over.
Arachna walks in and it looks like she won, until she stumbles to the ground. Jaecar laughs at the faces Tayanna and Diabolique had and asks them to get the camera. As another picture was taken, Jaecar is surprised over he barely won, mostly due to the tranquilizing agent on his claws. He might not be so lucky next time.
Arachna has a dream where she's relaxing on a tree as Jennie is there telling her about the fix they're in. Arachna tells her to go away, she's not real and is only a dream. Jennie says the drugs have weakened her enough to allow her personality to step in. A lion appears behind Jennie and Arachna says she's finished. Jennie says the lion represents the ability to be free and make its own choices. She explains that the same lion in a zoo gets used to being fed and cared after, but none of its choices matter anymore. Jennie is concerned that eventually Arachna will get used to the cage and not want to be free anymore. She says she knows this because Arachna has done this before, when she was locked away by Jennie for years, until she finally let her out to play when she gained their superpowers.
Arachna wakes up in a tub as Tayanna was watching over her. Tayanna tells her to relax, she only had a dream. Arachna thinks to herself that it was a dream about freedom. Tayanna tells her she tried to seduce Diabolique to turn against Jaecar but he turned her down. Diabolique is spying on both of them now. Tayanna tells Arachna she saw fear in Jaecar's eyes and is concerned the next time he will try something more nefarious and more permanent. Arachna seduces Tayanna. As Diabolique watches them, he says he should use that pose on his wife.
Later on, the scientist has finished creating another serum for Jaecar and requests his leave. Jaecar says he denies his request and he needs him to create more collars and improve the existing ones. He wants to stay at the top of the food chain and will soon begin hunting more people after he has finished breaking Arachna. Diabolique is surprised and looks at a photo of his wife.
Later that night, someone approaches Arachna and she thinks it's Jaecar. It's actually Tayanna in jungle attire along with Diabolique. Diabolique realized he's also a prisoner on the island and has offered to help them. He had removed the collar off Tayanna's neck and also helped remove the one off of Arachna. Arachna tells him she still wants payback.
As they sneak out, Tayanna informs Arachna that she also took a special cocktail from the doc to enhance her abilities. Diabolique wants his freedom after this is over. He knows the origin of Arachna's powers, even if Meiko didn't.
Just then a loud growl is heard through the area, and it wasn't one of the manticores. Diabolique says Jaecar's a fool if he actually drank the formula he made. A giant hand breaks through the floor, grabbing Arachna and yanking her downstairs. Tayanna fights off against the other mutated animals.
Arachna recognizes the giant beast as Jaecar, or what is left of him. The beast throws Arachna up against his animal trophy collection. Meanwhile, Tayanna continues fighting the animals. She grabs onto the panther's scorpion tail and rips it off.
Arachna webs up a skull that was part of Jaecar's display and whips it over to his eye. The monster falls over his throne, scattering the photos of his previous hunts everywhere. Arachna pulls a tarp over him and goes to check on Tayanna.
Tayanna is firing arrows at the mutated tiger until she falls through the unstable bannister as the wooden steps were breaking apart from all the commotion downstairs. Tayanna falls onto an elephant display and the tiger is about to attack her. Just then the mutated Jaecar grabs the tiger and kills it. He starts licking the tribal paint off of Tayanna, which is where she was getting her enhanced powers from.
Arachna sees that Tayanna is too scared to move away and she wraps her webs around the chandelier. She swings it down upon Jaecar. The mansion is collapsing and Tayanna says they could use it as a trap. She shoots arrows at Jaecar, trapping him inside as both women escape, just as everything comes down. Arachna and Tayanna embrace their freedom as the rain washes over them. Diabolique has already taken the seaplane to escape during all of the commotion.
Arachna and Tayanna rest upon Jaecar's mutated corpse, throwing the photos into the fireplace. Arachna asks Tayanna if she really wants to stay. Tayanna says a huntress needs her hunting grounds and the island is now hers. Several days later the women are still on the island, out of food and out of booze until a plane spots them.
Sometime later, Jennie is fired from her job because she'd been gone an entire month. The new waitress is her rival Tamara who is now serving her crush. Jennie is angry at all this and blames Arachna saying 'this means war'.
Elsewhere Diabolique finally makes it back home and has a box of chocolates for his wife. He steps inside and is shocked to see Kumo, as his wife has been killed with a giant stake being driven through her entire body.
My opinions-
Pretty fun read and full of interesting ideas. The story's main theme is freedom, in which Arachna wants freedom not just from Jaecar's island but also from Jennie. This really puts the split personality at play because ultimately, Arachna wants full control and to be herself 100% of the time. Then we get the implication that Jennie might know where their superpowers came from and might be keeping them from her. On top of that, it seems Jennie also had the split personality years before they got their superpowers. The ending with Jennie being angry that Arachna caused her to lose her job was also a sign that we're going to see both personalities fight for control, alongside the usual superheroics.
The new characters we meet are Ji-Ho, Jaecar and Tayanna. Ji-Ho is the martial arts sensei, which I wonder if we'll see more of. It's interesting to see how he taught Arachna to maintain her focus and repress Jennie's personality during times of danger.
Jaecar seems to be the Kraven type, but rather than hunt Arachna down to kill her, he wants to constantly hunt her and defeat her over and over until she's a willing slave like Tayanna. I'm assuming living mostly all alone on the island had warped his sanity to the point that all he cares about is 'being on top of the food chain'. His close calls with Arachna made him go as far as to become a mutated beast himself, making him lose all his humanity just to continue his game.
Tayanna seems to be the mindbroken servant, but it's clear she's fully aware of the situation and not completely loyal to Jaecar. She just knew when was the best time was to lash out on her own because any sort of failed attempt would have resulted in her death. Even though Arachna's determination and refusal to break inspired Tayanna to act, she was clearly horrified at the things she was forced to do under Jaecar's orders. It was only a matter of time where she'd find her chance to defy him. I do wonder what kind of amazing hunter Tayanna must have been for Jaecar to have shown interest in her. She didn't seem to have any super powers before Diabolique gave her any.
Diabolique has some shades of grey in this issue. While the first issue did show that he clearly cared about Meiko as more than just some disposable henchwoman, here the guilt of her death has all but consumed him. On top of everything he does love his wife. One thing I noticed is that he said all the horrible things he does is to support his wife. So even he admits what he's doing is horrible, which most bad guys usually don't. I wonder if now that his last emotional anchor is gone, if he'll go full on mad scientist, assuming Kumo doesn't just kill him.
I'm not sure if the doc knew the origin of Arachna's powers or if it was just a bluff. In the last issue he was even inspecting her to see if she had any actual spider-like mutations on her body, and he did seem confused as to how she came to be.
The art is pretty awesome and I especially like how crazy and distorted everything looked for the two page spread as Arachna was trying to fight off the effect of the drugs. Also there is a lot more cheesecake in this issue for cultured fans out there. Tayanna and Arachna just can't seem to keep their clothes on. They also can't keep their hands off each other. I guess my only complaint was there was so much insanity in those final pages with the mutated animals and the mansion falling part that at times it was difficult to tell what was going on.
This issue left off with one hell of a cliffhanger. I definitely can't wait for the next issue. Aside from the comic itself, my tier came with some cool cards of Arachna and Tayanna (some too hot to be pictured here), a sticker, a refrigerator magnet and a bookmark.
Also the X-53-verse is growing. Aside from Arachna, we also have the superhero duo named Goshawk and Falconette. Their first issue just shipped so I should also be getting that one soon. On top of that we also have another horrifying western-themed duo called The Vindicators. All of this and whenever they announce Arachna # 3? I can't wait!
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