The Navajo believe in malevolent entities called Skinwalkers who don people's skin like a pelt, mimicking their voice, their life, their legacy. It is horrifying if you think about it: imagine a person you know isn't the "real" them. In a way, this is true for actors, too. They wear the skin of the characters they portray, and the audience falls head over heels in love with them, not realizing that what they have actually fallen for is a facade. In Your Skin didn't need to dip its toe in the supernatural to get the point across. But it does make the super-fan-obsessing-over-their-idol formula more terrifying. And that’s something that definitely carries on in the second issue.
Last time we saw actress Ayesha Sen, she was in bad shape, quite literally. Priyanka's obsession reached its peak when she finally got hold of her favorite actor and stole her skin. I never thought anyone could make Buffalo Bill from The Silence of the Lambs look like a novice, but the body horror made me have high hopes for what would come next. However, In Your Skin #2 had different plans. It reminds us that the best stories do not rush, but lull you with the calm. Unfortunately, the storm I waited for never arrives in this issue.
Crawling In My Skin
Issue #2 takes a bit after the morbid ending the previous issue. We get a bit more of a picture of Ayesha’s life as she goes through the numbers of talk shows, film shootings and the day to day rigamarole of the Bollywood Actress life. Things to do take a turn for the weirder though when readers get feel that everything isn’t as it seems after her recent run-in with Priyanka. Because as we quickly see Ayesha smacking herself to remember her lines, we’re reminded that somehow, in some grotesque way; Priyanka has somehow taken over Ayesha’s body.
But what of the real Ayesha? Well, she’s now stuck inside Priyanka’s body, trying to make sense of what’s going on but still somewhat disturbingly calm about the whole situation. Nachiket himself is seemingly in the know, but we don’t know just yet what’s what due to how vague Bidikar still keeps things. But that vagueness only gets more terrifying when the real Priyanka, using Ayesha’s body, ends up showing the truly twisted side of this arrangement, with body horror and erotic galore all on display at the forefront.
When the Worth Is Still in Waiting
In this issue, Aditya Bidikar poses a question that is quite universal for anyone facing an existential crisis: what is real? And this is Ayesha's question, too. Made to do celebrity interviews and yet yearning for stardom, she attributes realness to what made her swoon to dance in the first place. Maybe that is where her skin stealer, Priyanka, made a connection with her. But this is not Priyanka's story. This issue is about humanizing Ayesha. The story opens with the Bollywood star going about her daily life, and it is messy, depressing, and banal. It is not as glamorous as Priyanka made it out to be, and it is not particularly captivating as well. The only places the story gets interesting are the glimpses of Ayesha's "truth" - her father's disownment, her vanity, and her affairs. But as the issue only sprinkles them from the top, they never assimilate into the juicy gossip you would like them to be.
Everyone sees a different truth to Ayesha as well. Her fiancé finds her unloving, her driver feels sorry for her, and her co-star sees her as an aging star on the last lap of glory. While the narrative is linear, the story takes turns between Ayesha's interactions with the men in her life. I would say, even though nothing dramatic, Bidikar manages to work the Jungian mask theory into his storytelling to showcase his character's spiraling. You can feel that she is dreading her marriage to Riyaan, despite putting up a brave front. She dismisses his worries or ignores his complaints, showing signs of dysfunction in their relationship. Her driver, Ashok Chacha, is a warm fatherly figure. But they already share a skewed employee-employer relationship, which makes him a silent observer. The final piece of the puzzle is Ayesha's co-star Armaan Kapoor, before whom she is powerless. You know, the kind of superstar who knows they have the power to control the narrative. He can cut out Ayesha's scenes, make snide comments about her age, and still calm her down with his charm. All these interactions are the building blocks that piece together Ayesha's personality, only for Priyanka to tear them down in one fell swoop when she makes her invasion.
The second half of In Your Skin #2 is where the story picks up from the debut issue's ending. Priyanka has got everything she wanted: she is now Ayesha in body, but not in mind. And that is where the fracture happens. Once again, Bidikar shows that the real star of the book is not Ayesha, but Priyanka. As soon as the latter enters the frame, the story kicks up a notch. Horror - check. Identity crisis - check. It is as if the story was waiting for someone to drag the reader back into the book. Ayesha was already a flawed character; this new "Ayesha" just gives her an edge. If the original Ayesha was on the verge of a mental breakdown, this new version of her is unhinged. What I actually love about it is that she still shows restraint, but there are small behind-the-scenes acts that suggest something much more sinister than the story lets on at this point.
That said, the issue is still an uncomfortable read. I don't mind the scenes with Ayesha, but they go on for far too long as if to marinate the reader in her predicament. But the situation being low-stakes doesn't really make the same impact on the reader as intended. They also feel disjointed, with one scene rolling into the other. On one hand, we see Priyanka as Ayesha reading her lines, while on the other we see Priyanka back as herself, mortified of her own reflection. All these, I think, are deliberate choices by Bidikar. In his attempt not to show his cards at once, he muddies the narrative water just enough to make his characters mysterious (most of all Priyanka). Maybe it will pay off in the upcoming installments, but for now, we are still in the dark about many things. And that can be a good thing. That is how you can make a story intriguing. Like the issue does right before the end by turning up the body horror. I mean, it's the same formula Bidikar uses in issue #1: let the characters gain your sympathy and then suddenly bring violence into the equation. This sudden jump from baseline emotions to cruel violence is where In Your Skin #2 shines. However, it is too little too late to top what the debut issue did.
Artwork Makes the Book Work
In Your Skin #2's artwork does most of the heavy lifting in making the story feel dramatic. Som's linework and Francesco Segala's colors are nothing short of a legendary actor pairing in a Bollywood movie (or Hollywood, for that matter), showing that good chemistry does not just happen on screen but also on paper. I find the panel work between the pages to be particularly exquisite. Be it a movie or a comic, framing a shot is a tough job, and getting it wrong can neuter the intensity of any scene. Here, the panels come out of the pages, so it is the first thing you notice on the page. Even when the script is just people talking, Som finds a way to give Ayesha or Priyanka's movements individual framing, so that even with all the noises around them, you still remember whom this story is all about.
On that note, let's talk about the imagery, because there's quite a bit of it. Once again, Som goes for a page of Ayesha dancing. While not quite as spectacular as in issue #1, it still is the most real version of the character we get to see, free from the worries that shackle her. Then there is the shot of Priyanka breaking the mirror in her room, which you can interpret as a reference to either her broken mind or her broken relationship with Nachiket. And that's the beauty of it all: the artwork lets you choose what the characters are thinking in that moment. Som likes playing with the perspective, and paired with the incredibly detailed background art, they create a world that really feels lived in.
Meanwhile, Segala's use of muted colors might be a genius move. It is not just Som's demented art that announces the sharp turn into horror, but also the sudden splurge of reds and blacks (the most common colors to show danger, I must say) to say "something bad's gonna happen." One moment, our characters are surrounded by brown and ochre, regaling us with Ayesha's nostalgia. The next, the cooler colors bring with them sinister vibes. In the midst of all this, my absolute favorite piece of art from this issue is a splash page showing Priyanka tearing into Ayesha's body with a shadow of an insect behind her, and it is everything you expect from body horror. And if you're a fan of it like me, hang around till the end, as that's where things get really gnarly.
A Puzzle With Missing Pieces
Honestly, I didn't know what this issue would have for the reader. I was hoping to see more of the insidious entity that is wearing Ayesha's skin. But Bidikar keeps the mystery tightly wrapped in a slow-burning narrative that makes little progress. In Your Skin #2 does a good job of breaking the facade of a movie star, but it's a story we have seen before. Nothing about the plot or characters screams Bollywood per se, other than some well-placed artwork or people's names. Everything in the story can be juxtaposed onto a Hollywood setting, and none would be wiser.
If the underlying theme in the first issue was obsession, the second issue explores vulnerability. Behind Ayesha's glamorous life as a movie star lies a secret life full of resentment, heartbreak, and yearning, none of which Priyanka understands. Her mission was to live her idol's life, not to navigate the complexities of her relationships at work and home. And it shows. The new Ayesha is incapable of memorizing two lines of dialogue or keeping her composure under duress. She loves the image she has of Ayesha more than she loves the person, and that is all her personality condenses down to. And that is what makes her dangerous.
Final Verdict: In Your Skin #2 still has moments that will make you squirm, though not as much as the first issue, with Bidikar and Som still holding off on the meatier revelations, but hopefully not for too long.