Comic Review: Unnatural #12

Unnatural #12

Image Comics

Writer: Mirka Andolfo

Artist: Mirka Andolfo

While Unnatural has been a short series, it has given us great art and an exciting, fast-paced storyline since its start. We’ll be revisiting some overarching themes, so prepare for spoilers. In this issue, we gain a better understanding of what Glance’s goal for Leslie is: to take/transfer the power of the Albino to herself.

The start of this series immediately got readers angry with the reproduction program and the society surrounding couples of different species. Early on, Andolfo introduced the theme of discrimination and made parallels to how people in our society decades ago treated interracial couples. Beyond the reproduction program was layers and layers of complexity. It was much more than just the program. This highly corrupt governmental entity had an entirely new regime in mind, much like Hitler, as mentioned before. The Glance’s ultimate goal for society was to establish the pigs as the master race and put the ‘inferior’ races into ghettos.

Throughout the series, Leslie has gone through some dynamic transitions. She went from not knowing who she was to standing up for herself and experiencing true sacrifice. She and Kahl both went through extraordinary loss to achieve the happiness they find at the end of the series, but she never loses sight of who she was deep inside: someone with a kind heart.

The one part of this issue (and maybe the entire series) that’s confusing to me is when the Albino begs Leslie not to follow her mom. He says chasing her is what her mom would want her to do, so it could be a trap. I have to agree, for once, that it does feel like a trap, and Leslie does get hurt here. What gets me is why the Albino would want Leslie to avoid her mom. At first, it seems like it’s to keep her out of danger, which makes sense because it’s using Leslie as a host. What doesn’t make sense is that it transfers its powers to the Glance after Leslie is stabbed with the blood knife, and it has way more control over the Glance than Leslie. Leslie was much stronger than her mom and had begun to exert her control over the Albino, whereas it has complete control over the Glance. My question is, why the hesitation? Why does the Albino warn Leslie before going to face the Glance?

Before the Albino takes over Leslie’s mom, she holds back, unable to harm her. When the Albino takes over,  the Glance becomes even more monstrous, and Leslie can finally stand up to the Albino without sacrificing herself. Plus, she already thinks she’s going to die, so she feels she has nothing left to lose.

Leslie knows the Albino well, therefore she knows its weak points. She goes for the eyes, and it’s all over. This giant spiritual power is eliminated. This face-off between Leslie and the Albino and Leslie and the Glance was built up in a major way, but the climax was not as satisfying as I’d hoped. We still gained closure at the end of the issue, but the action left a little to be desired.

One of my favorite parts of this issue was when Khal showed up to kill the Glance so that Leslie doesn’t have blood on her hands, preserving her innocence. Khal and Leslie resembled Bes and the Albino too much to ignore the obvious fact that they would end up together, but I love this little added detail.

Overall, the last installment was satisfying, even if the action for me was not. I appreciated the succinct way Andolfo wrapped it all up at the end. The reproduction program is abolished, Leslie and Kahl seem to be raising Shea, Carol is praised as a hero, the Guide Alliance has disappeared, and most importantly, Leslie is happy. She dresses more modestly, and she’s dying her hair a more ‘natural’ color, even though her natural color is oddly blue, which is a nice visual to show how this experience has matured her.

Andolfo leaves the end somewhat ambiguous. Leslie’s story is over, but her problems aren’t. She still has much to learn about herself. As Andolfo notes in her final letter, they’re safe from the law but not from discrimination. They’ll still have so much to work through with individuals who disagree with their lifestyles, but at least they can have some peace in knowing that they’re free to live the lifestyles they choose.

I’m so glad Andolfo pulled the scope back and looked at it their issues from our world’s point of view, too. That one of the things that made me fall in love with the series in the first issue. Even when discriminatory laws are abolished, it takes time to change the hearts and minds of those who were under the spell of ignorance.

Andolfo states she has no plans for new comics about Leslie at the moment, but she does have a project lined up for next year: Mercy, another one from Image Comics.

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