#IReadsYou Review: GEEK-GIRL #7

GEEK-GIRL, VOL. 2 #7
MARKOSIA ENTERPRISES, LTD.

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Sam Johnson with Mark Darden
ART: Carlos Granda
COLORS: Chunlin Zhao
LETTERS: Paul McLaren
COVER ARTISTS: Jason Hehir with Chunlin Zhao; Claudio Due Avella with Chunlin Zhao (Ltd. Edition Variant)
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (September 2020)

Rated T+ / 12+ only

Geek-Girl created by Sam Johnson

“Tights 'N' Capes” Part 2: “Bona to Vada Your Dolly Old Eeks!”

Created by Sam Johnson, Geek-Girl is a comic book character that debuted in the 2016 Geek-Girl miniseries,  She returned in a second miniseries, 2018's Geek-Girl Vol. 2, which became an ongoing series.  Geek-Girl Vol. 2 is written by Sam Johnson; drawn by Carlos Granda; colored by Chunlin Zhao; and lettered by Paul McLaren.

Geek-Girl focuses on Ruby Kaye of Acorn Ridge, Maine, a sexy and popular college coed who inadvertently becomes a superhero.  Ruby dons a pair of super-tech pair of eye glasses that gives her super-powers.  Ruby's BFF, Summer James, then talks her into trying to be a superhero, even providing her with a moniker.  Now, Ruby is Maine's newest superhero, “Geek-Girl.”

Geek-Girl Vol. 2 #7 (“Bona to Vada Your Dolly Old Eeks!”) finds Ruby and Summer joined by their new pal (and Ruby's new teammate), Kerry a.k.a. “The Minger,” for a night of partying at the gay night club, “Reach.”  There, they meet Ruby's friends (fake-as friends?) Karin, Stacey, and Jennifer.  While Summer is enjoying a night of being a superhero and Kerry is discovering the local color, Ruby is nursing a grudge or two that one powerful drink is about to put out on “jump street.”

Plus, Cabra Cini: Voodoo Junkie Hitwoman visits Acorn Ridge to prove that she is the baddest bitch.  Meanwhile, Digger Mensch has enough of his loyalties being tested, and he really hates it when his “professional” associations are questioned.

THE LOWDOWN:  Geek-Girl creator-writer Sam Johnson sends me PDF review copies of the latest issues of Geek-Girl.  So lately, I have been able to keep up with the happenings and adventures of Maine's cutest superhero.

As I said in my review of the prior issues (Vol. 2 #5-6), just about any issue of Geek-Girl is a good jumping-on point because Johnson's story and script are simply quite inviting to new readers.  Geek-Girl does not suffer from any of the ailments that longtime comic book writer and veteran television writer-producer, Gerry Conway, discussed in a series of recent twitter postings.

Geek-Girl is not a mature readers title that is inappropriate for young readers, nor is it weighed down by decades of anal continuity, which is one of the main problems of titles published by Marvel and DC Comics.  Geek-Girl #7 is one of those off-beat or “girls night out” issues that legendary comic book writer Chris Claremont presented to his readers in the classic Marvel Comics title, Uncanny X-Men.

I hope that teen comic book readers (and yes, they exist) will discover Geek-Girl.  In it, they will discover a kind of comic book that was the norm before Alan Moore and Frank Miller inadvertently gave comic book editors the blueprint for killing kid-friendly superhero comic books.  In the world before Watchmen-is-the-greatest-comic-book-of-all-time, many comic book superheroes seemed like they could be a young reader's best pals.  I think that this is the reason that comic books like Uncanny X-Men and The New Teen Titans (DC Comics) were so popular.  There is indeed a place for Batman: Arkham Asylum, but it need not be the entire place.

The last few years have seen mainstream American publishers trying hard to get middle-grade and teen readers back into the superhero comic book fold.  IDW's “Marvel Action” line is a good example.  Geek-Girl skewers towards the older teen readers, but (so far), there is very little in Geek-Girl that I would describe as inappropriate for a 13-year-old reader.  I don't think comic book characters partying at a gay night club is scandalous now in the way it would have been decades ago.  [Hey, if The Punisher is acceptable, so is club “Reach.”]

In Geek-Girl, writer Sam Johnson, artist Carlos Granda, colorist Chunlin Zhao, and letterer Paul McLaren are producing a comic book that recalls the past without being retro.  Geek-Girl is a cool comic book starring cool characters.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of lovable superheroes will find an all-around winner in Geek-Girl.

8 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


Geek-Girl #7 is Out Now and available in Regular, Digital and Variant editions at www.geekgirlcomics.com

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