The opening pages of Sevara #2 proved to me that while the story follows a roughly chronological pattern, it is definitely not linear!  Alathea somehow survived the events at the end of the last issue, but she has acquired a young infant while she runs from the King’s soldiers and others wanting to track her down.  Before, she was just marked as an unmarried woman and an escaped slave; now, she is considered a foreign witch, as well.  If she can survive long enough, Alathea may unlock the potential Sevara saw in her, but she has to manage to stay alive and not make too many missteps with her precious burden along the way.

If you need linear plots that spell out exactly what is happening, you won’t enjoy Sevara #2. While I could follow the story, some parts tie into the novel, and it skips around and gradually reveals events rather than having them unfold sequentially.  Sevara’s otherworldly nature gets more exploration in this volume, though, and while everything isn’t spelled out yet, it’s becoming more clear that she’s been chosen by the gods for some reason.  Her bond with Alathea seems to stem from a similar heritage in the former slave girl, and they will be destined to try to bring down Mitan’s harsh rule over this planet somehow!

This issue is a little easier on its criticism of men since a few of them aren’t entirely horrible. (Sevara’s current mortal body’s mother’s boyfriend doesn’t seem half bad.)  The society is still male dominated, misogynistic, and dismissive of female agency, but the general goal appears to be change via Sevara and Alathea’s influence.

The artwork continues to be well done in Sevara #2, and the cover image features Mitan (I believe) and the back of Sevara sprouting wings.  While she is fully nude, it feels less titillating than previous covers, since the “hatching angel” imagery is something I have seen used in many works without implying sexuality or otherwise objectifying women.

If you haven’t followed the other Sevara works, Issue #2 will be a very confusing place to jump on board; it’s little complicated even if you do know the history and backstory.  Things are beginning to fall into place to clarify the tie between the title character and Alathea, but there are still a lot of questions.  What exactly is Sevara? Was Alathea born with her innate abilities or were they gifted to her? What is the significance of the lost baby?  Only future issues will tell, but I suspect we’ll have a lot more questions before we get hard answers.

4 Reluctant Mothers out of 5