Beast of Boriken #2
Writer: Julio Anta
Artist: Daniel Irizarri
Colorist: Patricio Delpeche
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
When I picked up the first issue of Beast of Boriken, I expected a blood-soaked monster story. What I got instead was something a lot more thoughtful and nuanced, treating a culture and its history with care and respect.
Issue #2 just further cements that this is as much a story of Puerto Rico, its history, and its people as it is about the titular monster.
The Past Has Teeth
It’s the aftermath of the attack on the Alma resort groundbreaking. Loli Flores, a local activist, and Simon Hunt, head of Alma, both know what they saw—and it wasn’t an animal, as the news reports say. It was a monster. Both are investigating in their own way.
Loli’s friend Bianca takes her to a Botanica so they can get some Yerba Buena to make a calming tea. The shopkeeper sees that Loli is troubled, and determines she has recently encountered a spirit. Loli agrees to a spiritual reading.
The reading reveals that the creature from the groundbreaking site is a Hupia—the ancient spirit of a Taino, the indigenous people of Boriken. The land now called Puerto Rico. The Hupia is a lost spirit that is trapped on Earth and manifested as a monstrous creature, which has awakened because of strife and disruption on the island. And for some reason, it’s spiritually entwined with Loli…
Kindred Spirits
There’s been a ton of thought and care put into this book. The pacing is very deliberate, giving the characters plenty of time to develop and not being afraid to pause for a lesson in Puerto Rican history and culture (which is very welcome for a white boy like me who knows absolutely nothing about the island).
I'm not a huge horror person. Most of it just isn't for me. Splatterfests and gore-heavy slashers just aren't my thing. The kind of stuff that I do like is a little more cerebral or leaves a bit more to the imagination. Beast of Boriken falls neatly into my wheelhouse. It's not reducing Puerto Rico to blood-soaked vistas (not yet, at least) and the time it's giving the characters and the culture is making it all mean more to me. That way, I'll care when things start hitting the proverbial fan.
Loli is a very interesting character. From the first issue, we know that she was a child during Hurricane Maria, and that she lost her father in the resulting power outages (he was on life support and the hospital lost power). Now an adult who lived through that horror, as well as everything the island went through in the aftermath, she's become an activist and advocate for her homeland and her culture. She's made it her mission to force the "outsiders" who don't have the best interest of the land or the people away from Puerto Rico. People like Simon Hunt.
Hunt doesn't have too many layers to him. He's not an onion (or an ogre). He's your standard greedy capitalist who comes in with a smile and a promise, but doesn't follow through on any of the sweet platitudes he whispers in people’s ears. It's heavily implied that it's his company, Alma, breaking ground on their beachfront resort that has awakened the titular Beast. After the lesson on Hupia we received this issue, however, I'm not convinced that's entirely the case.
We learned that Hupia are spirits trapped here on Earth, and that the trauma of being trapped can turn them into monsters. That's clearly what has happened to this one. We also learned that they can be awakened because of strife or disruption on the island, which disturbs and angers them. Clearly there are things going on in the story that could count as a trigger, but remember that it was active during Maria as well. And here's where I wonder if it actually slumbered in the intervening years—the last shot of issue #1 was young Loli grieving her lost father, but it was through the eyes of the Beast. I think that moment, with her pain and grief so palpable, is what tied her spirit to that of the Beast. And although I think the resort construction is what it's focusing its rage on in the present day, I think Loli's involvement in trying to stop the project is what has given the Beast its target.
Of course, I could be way off. But that's my read from how the series has played out so far.
Either way, I love that this series—which on paper isn't my bag at all—has captured my attention and my imagination enough that I am putting together my wild "interconnected plotlines" board that hasn't seen a lot of use since The X-Files and Lost went off the air. When I say that I am genuinely looking forward to the rest of this series to not only see where the story goes, but also what else I can learn about Puerto Rican culture, it's not just words. I truly mean it.
Culture Shock
Julio Anta's writing on this title has blown me away so far. It's hard enough to craft a compelling horror story that isn't just slaughter and bloodshed. To do that but also include rounded, compelling characters and show respect to the history and culture of the land, that's downright impressive. The pacing of this story has been anything but breakneck, but it's never been slow or boring. I've genuinely enjoyed the time getting to learn about Loli and, to a lesser extent, Bianca. When we find out why Loli's mom has been trying to call her, even though the calls are constantly sent to voicemail, it's heartbreaking. I want to slap Loli upside the head and tell her to call her mother while she still can. Simon Hunt, evil capitalist that he is, also needs to be smacked upside the head, but with a closed fist.
Daniel Irizarri's art works perfectly for this story. There are some panels where people's faces are maybe a little too "potato" shaped, for lack of a better way to describe it. But those quirks aside, he puts a great amount of detail into everything. Puerto Rico looks as beautiful as you'd expect, and the construction site has an ominous, shadowy look to it that makes it stand out as wrong. As for the titular Beast, it's a fascinating design that isn't quite man or animal, but rather a mixture of the two. It's clearly wrong and not something that should exist, but it's also not something out of a nightmare that will make you lose sleep for days at a time. When Loli and the Beast come face-to-face, it's a big moment in the story, and the art gives the moment the gravitas it deserves.
Patricio Delpeche's colors complete the look for this title, complementing the art and adding to it at the same time. The Beast's greenish tone adds to its otherworldly look, and the glowing red eyes give it that extra ominous feel that a good horror monster needs. The island is lush and green, but with the brownish tint that you'd expect from the dirt and mud. The Alma construction site is drenched in blacks and shadows, looking to be from another place entirely. It helps to emphasize just how wrong the whole project is, and why Loli and the Beast are each opposing it in their own ways.
No Creature Feature
Beast of Boriken #2 is a strong follow-up to the stellar first issue, maintaining a deliberate and leisurely pace that gives plenty of room for character development. The creative team isn't afraid to devote several pages to an aside that gives a lesson on the history of Boriken culture, which adds to the overall feeling of authenticity. We now know that there's some sort of connection between Loli and the Beast, and whatever that comes to mean is going to determine where the rest of the story goes. Something tells me that no matter what, it's going to end in tears and bloodshed. If it does, the time we've spent getting to know these characters and this land will give those events so much more impact.