First, yes I know that I’m about a month late on this. September has been a very busy month for me, both professionally and personally, and I’m afraid that it just hasn’t left much time for blogging. The small bits of spare time I’ve had have been mostly spent relaxing or sleeping. This heat wave we’ve been having in California hasn’t helped either, it just saps all my physical and creative energy. But things are slowing down now so I’m ready to play catch up. I loved the first, second, and third issues of this miniseries, and now it’s time to review and recap the fourth.

The you know what is about to hit the fan, as 6 of Destiny’s gangbanger soldiers reveal themselves to be undercover police officers. And with the LAPD having pull back from the city, these guys are stuck inside the hood and decide to take matters into their own hands, planning a surprise attack on Destiny, and are prepared to kill anyone who gets in their way. They make their way towards Destiny’s house, mercilessly gunning down men, women, and children. Destiny is made aware and arranges her troops to fight back. She succeeds in ending the threat, in the only way she knows how, but loses a key ally in the process.

For a moment, writers Marc Bernardin and Adam Freeman slow down the action and give us a glimpse into Destiny’s softer side. While she maintains her hard exterior in public to her troops, she lets her guard down in private to her close friend Chavonne as she ponders the cost of this war that she’s started and what her next move will be. It’s a touching scene that offers a stark contrast to the opening brutality of this comic, and works very well.

Destiny’s next move involves her sneaking out of the city, dressing as an Internal Affairs officer to make her way into the LAPD headquarters to find out exactly how much they know about her and what they’re planning next. She meets Detective Gray, the man who uncovered her identity and motivations, and there’s another interesting sequence discussing how this all happened and why, but once she finds out that the National Guard have been called in, Destiny races back to her neighborhood to get ready for the final showdown. TO BE CONCLUDED

Another intense and exciting episode in this series. Bernardin and Freeman offer just the right mix of action and characterization here and, as usual, Afua Richardson just knocks it out of the park with her stellar pencils. Fantastic all around.

Chacebook rating: FIVE STARS

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