In the world of superheroes, there are a few tropes, things that you know will happen, and the enjoyment is based on the execution of it all. There are some annoying tropes, like civilians not being able to tell heroes from their alter egos. Another annoying trope is the obsession certain villains have for their nemesis, the superhero. The least favorite of all the tropes that exist in the comics medium is how people in positions of power and importance in these books are readily acceptable of these beings who otherwise would be outcasts or deemed threats.

Now, all the tropes are not necessarily bad, the favorite of mines are the battle royales between the opposing two characters, and thy have not necessarily been the good versus bad. Hulk versus Wolverine, now only their first, but their subsequent fight is legendary within comics. Then there are the many fights between Batman and the Joker, which got downright disturbing in the recently revisited The Killing Joke. They can be more than fun, as in the second issue of Vigilance, where she takes on Queen Ma’la.

We pick up right where the first issue ends, as Vigilance has just defeated many of the Queen’s minions, but Vigilance clearly underestimates the Queen, as she has met her match. Within the context of the fight, the reader gets the origin story of Queen Ma’la, as Vigilance is not fighting an ordinary regent, but one who has had not to overcome her society’s expectations of her as a woman and a royal, but just how ruthless she could be. She has come to even enslave whole societies. By the end of this episode, both individuals have found their match, but the reader and Vigilance are left with a mystery, as to why they call her “destroyer”.

Overall, a fun issue that gives you backstory as well, it is if someone took the fight scene from The Players Club (which is one of the best I have ever seen and was even highlighted in the documentary, Ultimate Fights from the Movies ) and Chronicles of Riddick, in the same universe, definitely a movie I would watch any day. The story by Micah Cox does something totally left field of what would a regular big bad fight, to something more introspective but keeps the fun. The art by Mel Joy San Juan is masterful and captures these characters in the best light. Altogether, a fun issue that raises a lot of questions and which this reviewer can’t wait to keep pulling on this string to find those answers.

Story: Micah Cox Art: Mel Joy San Juan
Story: 10 Art: 10 Overall: 10 Recommendation: Buy