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The Destiny of Zoe Carpenter 1

By Geoff Hoppe
November 12, 2013 - 22:29

In The Destiny of Zoe Carpenter, a young girl discovers a family secret, a few bad guys get a well-deserved medusa treatment, and an issue that needs advocacy gets some much-needed attention from an author and survivor.

 

SPOILERS below. You’ve been warned.

 

The Destiny of Zoe Carpenter #1, written by Barbara Amaya, is a graphic novel about identity, super-powers, and awareness. Zoe Carpenter follows a young girl who accidentally stumbles on a magical amulet that gives her the abilities to find trafficked or kidnapped children, and also turn people to stone. Like a lot of superhero origin stories, Zoe’s involves the death of a father figure, adolescent confusion, and a simultaneous discovery of identity and resolve. The other normal trappings of superhero comics are here, as well, but they’ve been cleverly adapted to call attention to human trafficking. Zoe’s sidekick, Carl, for instance, is a victim, a survivor, and, in comic book form, a shapeshifter.

Like Ms. Amaya herself, Zoe Carpenter tells a gutsy story that draws on harsh realities. Zoe is fun as a superhero comic, but its deeper value and appeal derive from its statistical grounding. The current figure—that 100,000 children are trafficked every year in the U.S., and forced into sex acts or slave labor—is scarier and far more awful than anything even Mike Mignola could dream up. Graphic novelists have addressed human trafficking before. Garth Ennis wrote a gripping, well-researched arc in The Punisher entitled “The Slavers” in the early 2000s that pitted Frank Castle against a group of Moldovan traffickers. Ennis’ story, however, was as decidedly adult-oriented as the rest of his work. It’s a great title for older high schoolers, but younger readers will be more liable to focus on the grotesquerie of the gore, rather than the ethical horror of the villains’ actions. Zoe Carpenter addresses a younger audience that needs to know about trafficking not just for the sake of awareness, but for their own protection. In eschewing sensationalistic violence—even Ennis’ ironic brand— Zoe Carpenter calls young readers’ attention to the issue itself in an accessible fashion.

Graphic novels have raised awareness about evil in an accessible fashion for decades: as Stan Lee is fond of saying, Captain America went to war with Hitler before the United States did. The Destiny of Zoe Carpenter #1 is a happy addition to that history. Bravo, Zoe—here’s to future adventures.

Last Updated: January 17, 2025 - 08:20