Bigger Than Capes

by Zachary Whittaker

Written by: Pat Shand
Art by: Manuel Preitano
Lettered by: Jim Campbell
Publisher: Black Mask

What happens after you successfully fulfil a prophecy to save the world?

Logan finds herself at university with a bunch of other kids who’ve been told they’re destined to save the world, but after completing her prophecy when she was only thirteen she’s at a loss of what to do with her life.

First thing’s first, Destiny, NY is a gorgeous book. Manuel Preitano’s artwork is fantastic, his character designs are packed with variety and every emotion and facial expression is brilliantly illustrated. There’s also a nice subtle change in style between the events happening now and flashbacks, with a washier inking and shading style in the latter.

Logan is a really relatable protagonist, I’m sure there are plenty of us who have felt lost and unsure of what to do next. Especially when it seems like everyone around us knows what they’re doing. For example, there’s a page early on, which is largely just exposition, in which Logan talks about her problems compared to everyone else’s; particularly her ability to overanalyse everything and jump to conclusions definitely hits home.

While there’s an opportunity here to make reference to any number of magical protagonists from pop culture’s past, and that does happen, it never distracts from Logan’s story and the pieces of a greater plot that are coming together around her. For a story with the highest of magical stakes being played out constantly by the surrounding characters, Destiny, NY never loses sight of Logan and the more personal tale being told.

This first issue is forty-eight pages, packed with characters, thirteen named to be exact, but never straying too far from Logan’s story, every character that’s introduced along the way serves to inform how others see Logan or build the plot surrounding her. While there’s a supernatural backbone to Destiny, NY there’s also romance, comedy and a helpful side of positive representation and relatability. I don’t want to give too much away about the plot, but there’s plenty of potential here, and it looks like Logan’s days of getting involved in prophecies are far from over.

4 prophecies out of 5