Sisterhood: A Hyde Street Story #5 // Review
Sophie never went anywhere or did anything unless Violet made her. Violet made Sophie. She pulled her out of the shadows. And now there’s a darkness that’s pulling her under as Violet’s ghost takes control of Sophie’s body in Sisterhood: A Hyde Street Story #5. Writer Maytal Zchut and artist Leila Leiz conclude their supernatural horror drama with colorist Alex Sinclair. It's a sharp drama that ends rather impressively in fire and water and blood. There is a powerful fusion between the emotionality of what's going on and the interpersonal drama and the supernatural elements of the story. Impressive balance.
The sorority house is burning. There are many people trapped inside. A few people might be able to escape. However, there are conflicts going on within. None so powerful as that between Violet and Sophie. Sophie's being drowned inside her own body as Violet takes over. Phantoms for within our trying to drag her ever deeper into he mind. She needs to find the strength of will to be able to swim herself back into her own body from wherever it is that she's being dragged into. Her own darkness is almost insurmountable. She's in for the struggle of her life.
Zchut he's working with a great deal of metaphor. Sophie's inner darkness is water that she's drowning in. And perhaps that is where the connection between her and the spirit of Violet may be coming from. Violet’s need for a revenge becomes a driving force that is animating both of them. There's a compelling intrigue about the supernatural forces at work, but they are in the service of human emotion. And that human emotion becomes the central focus of the entire series. It's that sisterhood. That connection. The connection between the two characters. This is a horrifying exaggeration of the negative side of interpersonal human connection.
Leiz framed the horror with exceptional grace. The supernatural darkness of the drowning plays across the page with a clever sense of chaos. The actual rendering could be a bit tighter. The king feels a little inconsistent in places. However, the overall drama hitched the page with exquisite intensity. Above all, the artist is capturing the drama of the action with remarkably vivid impact. Sinclair's color lens a sense of residence about the supernatural realm of water that Sophie is being pulled into. The color is particularly vivid they are. As is it quite potent in the fire that's raging around the sorority house.
The potential for a sequel is actually pretty interesting. And it would fit remarkably well in the rest of the Hyde Street universe. It’s an appealing visual component to the horror that would be fun to explore in the context that Zchut lands at the end of the story. It would be fun to see it develop further. The themes that Zchut is exploring in the series could open-up considerably in further installments of the story. With any luck, Zchut and company will have a chance to explore their end of Hyde Street a bit further.
