Doctor Shan Fong Mirage came across like such a nice person in the opening issue of her mini-series. The fact that she was in Hell at the time came as something of a shock. Possible reasons for her death and exile become apparent in the second issue of Doctor Mirage. Writer Magdalene Visaggio reveals a little bit of Shan’s background. Artist Nick Robles commits the story to page and panel with an earthbound sense of the fantastic. Shan’s personality is given a bit more depth as events before her death are the focus of an interesting issue with sharply witty dialogue. 

Doctor Mirage and her newfound ally Grace are trying to make some sort of connection. Grace claims that they’re both dead in Hell. Doctor Mirage needs to get into Grace’s mind if she’s going to get a better understanding of what’s going on. In the process, Shan finds herself flipping into a flashback. Eight months before the current issue, Shan and the ghost of her dead husband are visiting Turkey in hopes of being let-in to an ancient underground temple of Isis. Shan wants to use the secrets of the temple to raise the ghost of her late husband from the dead. When it becomes apparent that she’s not going to be allowed-in, her determination takes on a more aggressive posture.

Visaggio contrasts Shan’s interaction with the dead girl named Grace in the present against her relationship with the ghost of her late husband in the past. Shan comes across heroically determined in her quest. It’s a level of determination which shows its unpleasant side when things don’t go her way. There isn’t much action this issue, but there’s a rich sense of characterization. As the inner conflict ticking its way through Shan is given a chance to show itself through an issue primarily reflecting the past.

Robles’ art grasps the fundamental nature of the drama between Shan and her late husband, occasionally breathing life into idle moments with a strong sense of ominous stillness and silence. While angles and perspectives are sometimes granted a sense of power, the more intense moments of intricate and subtle drama are often held at too high a distance to generate the kind of power that could make for a deeply compelling visual reality. The more fantastic elements that inhabit the Hell shared by Shan and Grace feel vivid enough as introduction and conclusion to a solidly entertaining second issue. 

There’s an attractive gravity underlying the central mystery of the series that echoes into the second issue. The flashback to earlier events robs the narrative of some of the supernatural exploration that made the first issue so intriguing. But it DOES serve to ground the story on both sides of the veil between life, death, the past, and the present. Far from compromising the appeal of Shan, her decision to do what she has to do to get into the Temple of Isis makes her that much more interesting as the series reaches its midpoint next month.

Grade: B