Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1332040
As a designer, I was presented with a rare opportunity to play with and explore multiple genres and world building throughout the series. However, nothing challenged me as much as episode 7, "I AM." In it, Hippolyta (George's wife and Tic's aunt) embarks on a journey of self- discovery that speaks directly to every woman's struggles with patriarchy. Unlike the arcs of some of the other characters, hers is full of joy and fantasy. As a young girl, Hippolyta is an amateur astronomer, only to find herself shrink' once she marries and becomes a stay-at-home housewife. The episode begins with her searching through the ruins of the Braithwhite's burned-out Ardham Lodge for clues of her husband's death. Hippolyta discovers a strange symbol of a half- sun, and when she returns home, she notices the same symbol on an orrery she took from Leti's boarding house. Summoning her knowledge of the movements of the planets, she manages to unlock the orrery, discovering a hidden key and the coordinates to a mysterious place, which lead her to an abandoned observatory with a defunct multiverse machine. She uses her mathematical skills to bring the machine to life, which opens a portal to other worlds, and she lands on Planet 50. Immediately, two robots escort her to a white room, which she realizes is a prison cell. An eight-foot-tall Black woman with a giant Afro commands her to name' herself. In response, the first thing Hippolyta wants to do is dance on stage in Paris with Josephine Baker, so she lands in the middle of a bare-breasted musical number lead by the iconic singer. After tasting sexual and political freedom, Hippolyta next names herself a warrior, and is transported to the Dahomey Kingdom in the 1860s. There she becomes a general in an all-female army, leading her troops to battle Confederate soldiers. A. ARDHAM LODGE. PENCIL SKETCH BY KALINA IVANOV. B. ARDHAM LODGE. CONCEPT ILLUSTRATION BY DEAK FERRAND. C. ARDHAM LODGE DESTROYED. CONCEPT ILLUSTRATION BY DEAK FERRAND. B C