Name: Victor LaValle's Destroyer
ISBN: 9781684150557

Victor LaValle

The legacy of Frankenstein’s monster collides with the sociopolitical tensions of the present-day United States. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein beseeched his creator for love and companionship, but in 2017, the monster has long discarded any notions of peace or inclusion. He has become the Destroyer, his only goal to eliminate the scourge of humanity from the planet. In this goal, he initially finds a willing partner in Dr. Baker, a descendant of the Frankenstein family who has lost her teenage son after an encounter with the police. While two scientists, Percy and Byron, initially believe they’re brought to protect Dr. Baker from the monster, they soon realize they may have to protect the world from the monster and Dr. Baker’s wrath. Written by lauded novelist Victor LaValle (The Devil In Silver, The Ballad of Black Tom), Destroyer is a harrowing tale exploring the legacies of love, loss, and vengeance placed firmly in the tense atmosphere and current events of the modern-day United States.

Victor LaValle's Destroyer

Maya Johnson

** spoiler alert **
           I enjoyed the art in this comic so much! It's to the point of wanting printings of the different individual issue covers! I need to give the book 4 stars based on the art alone. I don't think I'll give it the final star because I think the story needed to be fleshed out a bit more. For example, I think that the storyline about Akai being murdered by the police needed to be discussed more, nothing happened as far as justice or punishments. Akai got to live again because of his mother so that is an ending that I really like.

Ryan LaFerney

Destroyer is a brutal and poetic story about the perceived innovations of science and the nature of grief. Based on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Victor LaValle updates the story for a futuristic 21st Century. The story centers on Dr. Baker, a black descendant of the Frankenstein family who has lost her teenage son after an encounter with the police, her Frankenstein cyborg son, and two scientists who attempt to protect her. But can they survive her pain and wrath? At the same time, the original monster has survived in Antarctica and is haunting down the remaining Frankensteins. 

I found Destroyer to be topical and smartly written (this is a wonderful homage to Frankenstein and a wonderful continuation to the story) but it also felt a bit rushed. Nevertheless, if done right, I think this could make a fascinating sci-fi horror film.

Montgomery Pierce

Fantastic conceptually, lacking narratively. I think that this definitely needed more than six issues to fully explore (1) the world in which Victor Frankenstein was not merely a character in a book but an actual scientist whose creation is real (2) develop the characters and their relationships to each other to make all of the plot points happening in the latter half of the series give the full impact that it needed (3) fully realize a lot of the foundational messages present. 

That being said, I think that this is still a gem and warrants reading. Not only is the art style employed by Dietrich Smith beautiful, but I like the marrying of past and present both in the original Frankenstein monster and the creation done by Doctor Baker through her son coming together here, but also the overarching theme that not a lot has actually changed wrt racism and racial injustices of the past and now. There's the exploration of parental grief, the questioning of why Black women can't be allowed to be human in that grief and anger, and even in the things that have nothing to do with that negative space. Why are we not allowed it in the things that bring us joy, and happiness, too? I appreciated all of this but would have loved to see more, especially fleshed out and really deeply explored. I think it would have benefitted this series greatly.