Destroyer #3

Previously in Destroyer #2

“Necessity is the mother of invention.” - author unknown

Dr. Josephine Baker lived her life by this proverb, using one of the greatest minds in science to make her life as a mother a bit easier, and all while teaching nanotechnology to college students after being phased out of the top secret government laboratory. Her time with her young son, Akai, was tragically cut short when he’s shot by a police officer on his way home from a baseball game. With her marriage over, and driven by unimaginable grief, Baker once again used her mind to create what she needed: to be a mother again.

She explains this to the two agents sent by The Director to retrieve her and her work, Akai. It’s important that they understand she’s not “an angry black woman,” Baker’s is a righteous anger born of watching the police who killed her son continue to prosper and face no real consequences for their actions. Dr. Josephine Baker is living every black mother’s worst nightmare; a nightmare far too many have lived.

Akai shows as much compassion as she does vengeance. Her real life was cut short so early, he never got to learn about the world, people, or himself. Akai’s afterlife personality is equal parts innocent wonder and extreme genius. Glimpses of the old Akai peek through when he hesitates to physically subdue the agents behind held by his mother.

Baker is fully aware of her old employer’s protocols and knows that they’ll have sent something referred to as “The Bride” to back up the agents should they fail to bring her in within a certain time. However, it’s not The Bride who makes a bloody entrance, it’s The Monster and he has only one thing on his mind.

We’ve watched The Monster travel the world, causing death and destruction in his wake; even when it appears it wasn’t his intention like in this issue when brings down a slaughterhouse on helpless pigs. Is he driven to Dr. Baker to keep Akai from following his fate. He’s been isolated, hunted, and misunderstood. He understands living with that for an eternity; a life you didn’t ask for.