Lady Mechanika Volume 0: La Dama de la Muerte by Joe Benitez with artwork by Joe Benitez and Peter Steigerwald
I was not familiar with the comic Lady Mechanika, but
the cover artwork depicting a woman in Dia de la Muertos make-up immediately
attracted me to this story. This comic includes issues from a mini-series titled
La Dama de la Muerte. The story revolves around Mechanika who visits a
remote Mexican village where she tries to escape from a painful loss of her
beloved Dallas. We don’t learn much about Dallas, but Mechanika gradually
reveals his presence in her life when she is persuaded to partake in the local
Dia de la Muertos celebration. The artwork throughout this story is amazing,
truly capturing the colors and styles of this iconic holiday. Furthermore, this
is a great action/revenge story where Lady Mechanika gradually feels like she
belongs to a new community, only to experience tragedy once again. I don’t want
to give too much away, but the story is compelling, violent, and thrilling.
However, it’s the artwork from Joe Benitez (who also wrote the story) and Peter
Steigerwald that stands out the most in this collection of issues from this
miniseries. Not only does it represent the colorful and bold styles of Dia de
la Muerte, but there are also some really cool images from the jungles of
Mexico, which seemingly capture some of the indigenous artwork and styles of
Aztec people. There are mentions of Mictecacihuatl, the Aztec queen of the
underworld, along with other symbols and themes relating to Aztec culture. I really
appreciated the artwork and hope to find some of the other Lady Mechanika
stories. Highly recommended! Many thanks to Image Comics and NetGalley for
sharing an advanced copy of this great graphic novel/collection.
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