Sisterhood: A Hyde Street Story #2 // Review
When Sophie looks in the mirror, she’s seeing Vi. That’s not like...some weird and cheesy poetry or anything like that. Sophie and VI were best friends. And now Vi’s dead, but she’s talking to her through Sophie’s vanity mirror. Normally that might be more than a little bit disturbing, but Sophie really misses Vi and she loves having the opportunity to talk to her once more in Sisterhood: A Hyde Street Story #2. Writer Maytal Zchut and artist Leila Leiz continue a coming-of-age horror story with color artist Alex Sinclair. It’s a pleasantly off-center teenage horror drama that continues to find an appealing dynamic on the page.
Sophie doesn’t want to pledge Sigma Iota Nu. She can’t stand the thought of joining a sorority. Vi wants her to join, though. It’s the only way to keep them from harming anyone ever again. The proper legal channels would take forever to shut them down and there’s no telling what they’ll be able to get away with in the time it takes to shut them down. Sophie doesn’t feel at all good about it, but Vi is there in every single reflective surface that Sophie looks into. So it’s only a matter of time before she agrees to it. After all...Vi WAS Sophie’s closest friend.
Zchut gradually increases the intensity of what Sophie is up against. The author also manages to play some complexity into the sorority itself. Some of it's very cheesy. B-movie horror tropes inhabit every corner of the page. It's not a towering work of genius or anything like that. But it is a lot of fun. And there are moments that feel like something out of the worst horror movie imaginable. The name of this sorority is particularly silly. As our aspects of the personalities of the characters in the ensemble. That being said, the drama that's driving by the center of it really does have its own power. Its own gravity. And that's what makes the entire thing worthwhile.
Leiz and Sinclair do a solidly respectable job of delivering the drama and the setting. It's not as stylish or moody as it could be. There are moments that feel a bit sketchy. Overall, though, there is a great deal of intensity as the drama moves. This particular our team is at its best when it is delivering the subtle changes of emotion and mood on the faces of the characters. There's a lot to be read into those dramatic moments. Architecture and setting aren't quite as impressive as they could be. However, there's more than enough there on the page to suggest a very immersive setting for the action.
Above all, Sophie and Vi continue to be really compelling characters. And there's an interesting curve thrown at the end of the issue that suggest that there is more going on than a cheesy horror plot. This is very reassuring. It's important to hit those moments of idiosyncratic complexity as they are really integral to the Hyde Street brand.