Bigger Than Capes

Writer: Alisa Kwitney
Artist: Mauricet
Letterer: Rob Steen

We reviewed G.I.L.T. #1 as part of our April roundup. If you want to listen to our thoughts you can find them here. In summary we thought it was a pretty cool book. Interesting concept, great fashion and we enjoyed it. So I was looking forward to reading the second issue. For me a second issue tends to make or break a book after a solid first issue. I am happy to say that G.I.L.T. #2 is indeed a very good issue.

We find Hildy and Trista in 1973. Hildy is in her younger body determined to not get married but Trista has ended up in the body of her 9 year old self which is not a happy time for her as we will shortly discover. There are a whole bunch of weird and interesting co-incidences and we get insight into both how the time travel works and also Hildy and Trista’s pasts. It’s a really satisfying issue in terms of plot.

If you wanted to know more about how time travel operates in this universe you get the answers. What’s fun is that the exposition comes not from Hildy but from her friends. She told them all about it on one of her previous trips into the past. I really loved how it wasn’t Hildy doing the explaining but in fact her friends from the past. The short explanation is that Hildy met an old lady who left Hildy the lease on the apartment back in the nineties, the apartment which is a bit of a temporal anomaly. The same lady initiated her into time travel. It works thus, your older consciousness travels back and inhabits your younger body. If you do things out of character for your younger self you end up being thrown back to the future with a touch of amnesia. The longer you spend in your younger self the more you end up thinking like your younger self.

It’s an explanation that makes sense. We also learn that Hildy has never travelled with someone before and the sharp eyed among you will recall that this sort of breaks the rules a bit. So Trista’s presence is going to have some impact on things, one way or another. There’s also a series of co-incidences about the pasts of Hildy and Trista as their paths previously crossed back in 1974. I do love how there are little hints, such as Trista’s YoYo, of more coincidences to come.

Whilst we spend time on the mechanics of time travel we also delve into Hildy and Trista’s pass. We meet the person Hildy wants to avoid marrying, co-incidentally a man that Trista’s mother (whom she is not a fan of) admires for all the wrong reasons as far as Trista is concerned. It all slots together rather neatly. It’s pretty clear that though we knew it was a pivotal point for Hildy it might also be such a point for Trista.

Once again the setting and fashion are fantastic. We spend most of this issue in 1973 and it feels really accurate for the time. The fashion is spot on and the general settings are as well. It feels very true to the time period. I especially liked the hotel room where the presentation was taking place full of people with various fashions. The collars are especially good stand outs. The airport too is a great little bit of design that reflects the time period. I also really liked the leaves blowing around giving a real feel of a blustery autumn day without too much effort.

There are also neat little details for other time periods too. This was an issue that rewarded a re-read as I noticed something about Hildy and the old lady in the nineties and how it related to Trista’s weird job in that same time period. I won’t say any more spoilers but it slots together so neatly it did make me grin. The little details just work so well. I also liked the fact Hildy had to sacrifice her book for her initiation to time travel and the title? The Gilded Age. Nicely done.

Overall I really enjoyed this second issue. It feels like there was more to discover and I really enjoyed re-reading. I do love it when there’s value to the reader in that. The plot advances nicely. The time travel information is cool and there’s a heck of an ending. Good art, good writing and interesting details character and art wise. Good stuff.