Review: MARVEL RISING: Alpha #1

MARVEL RISING: ALPHA No. 1
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Devin Grayson
ART: Georges Duarte
COLORS: Rachelle Rosenberg
LETTERS: VC's Clayton Cowles
EDITORS: Heather Antos and Sarah Brunstad
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Akira Yoshida
COVER: Gurihiru
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Stacey Lee; Rian Gonzales
36pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (August 2018)

Rated “T”

Part 1

“Marvel Rising” is a “new animation universe” from Marvel Entertainment.  It is apparently a multi-platform franchise that will feature a diverse line-up of Marvel Comics superheroes:  Ms. Marvel, Squirrel Girl, Quake, Spider-Gwen, Lockjaw, America Chavez, Squirrel Girl, Patriot, and Inferno.  “Marvel Rising” will include digital animated short films (focusing on Spider-Gwen) and a feature-length animated film, Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors, for release sometime in the second half of 2018. I think Captain Marvel will be involved in “Marvel Rising,” to one extent or another.

Released earlier this year, Marvel Rising #0 is a free comic book that previews the Marvel Rising comic books.  It brings together Doreen Green a.k.a. the Unbeatable Squirrel Girl and Kamala Kahn a.k.a. Ms. Marvel.  It presents Doreen as a volunteer in a teaching program, in which her latest pupils are a group of New Jersey high school students that includes Kamala.  The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl and Ms. Marvel eventually team-up to take on A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics) who play some part in a scheme to find “powered teens” or young people with unusual genetic traits.

Now the Marvel Rising comic book miniseries begins in earnest with the recent arrival of Marvel Rising: Alpha.  It is written by Devin Grayson; drawn by Georges Duarte; colored by Rachelle Rosenberg; and lettered by Clayton Cowles.

Marvel Rising: Alpha #1 (“Part 1”) introduces high school student, Ember Quade, known online as “Emulator” or “3mul@t0r.”  She is a really good gamer, much to the chagrin of some teen boys who absolutely hate to lose to girls.  Ember has a friend to whom she can confide her powers, an online buddy named “King0fPWN.”  He or she lifts Ember's spirits, and also encourages her to explore her emerging powers.

Meanwhile, computer science college student, Doreen Green a.k.a. the Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, continues to teach an extracurricular class, game programming, at a New Jersey high school.  One of he students is Kamala Kahn a.k.a. Ms. Marvel.  When giant versions of video game characters start popping up on campus, the Unbeatable Squirrel Girl and Ms. Marvel spring into action.

I enjoyed Marvel Rising #0, although it is really a “kids' comic book.”  Marvel Rising: Alpha #1 is rated “T” as a comic book for teen readers, but I think it is appropriate for middle school and 'tween readers, especially for girls who read or might read a comic book.  Writer Devin Grayson eschews character drama for the kind of episodic adventure found in animated action and superhero animated TV series.  The super-heroine action here is good, but not great.  Personally, I would do something different with Ember Quade's powers, but then again, Grayson may not have a lot of control over the direction of this story.

The illustrations by Georges Duarte and colors by Rachelle Rosenberg are pretty, but the graphical storytelling is not particularly ambitious.  The lettering seems crowded, but the design is good.  I think the point here is more about being “good” than being ambitious.  I wish the people who are overseeing Marvel Rising would expect as much of their target audience as Marvel Studios does of the audience for its smash hit films.  Still, I would recommend this to young comic book readers interested in superheroes and super-heroines.

6 out of 10

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


The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint or syndication rights and fees.

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Review: MARVEL RISING #0

MARVEL RISING No. 0
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Devin Grayson
ART: Marco Failla
COLORS: Rachelle Rosenberg
LETTERS: VC's Clayton Cowles
EDITORS: Heather Antos and Sarah Brunstad
COVER: Helen Chen
28pp, Color, $0.00 U.S. (June 2018)

Marvel Entertainment announced a “new animation universe,” entitled “Marvel Rising.”  From what I have gathered, reading articles here and there, is that this is a multi-platform franchise.  It will feature a diverse line-up of Marvel Comics superheroes:  Ms. Marvel, Squirrel Girl, Quake, Spider-Gwen, Lockjaw, America Chavez, Squirrel Girl, Patriot, and Inferno.  I think Captain Marvel will be involved in “Marvel Rising,” to one extent or another.

In a video, Sana Amanat, Marvel's Director of Content & Character Development said, “We wanted to show the world that these heroes are important to the Marvel Universe, that there is a character for every kind of Marvel fan out there.”  You can view the video via this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HTPCTtkWoA

“Marvel Rising” will include digital animated short films (focusing on Spider-Gwen) and a feature-length animated film, Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors, for release sometime in the second half of 2018.  One of the platforms in this multi-platform is comic books, and beginning in June the first of four Marvel Rising comic books, Marvel Rising: Alpha, will debut.

Marvel Rising #0 is a free comic book that previews the Marvel Rising comic books.  I found it in my local comic book shop Wednesday, April 25, 2018.  It is written by Devin Grayson; drawn by Marco Failla; colored by Rachelle Rosenberg; and lettered by Clayton Cowles.  The story focuses on Doreen Green a.k.a. the Unbeatable Squirrel Girl and Kamala Kahn a.k.a. Ms. Marvel.

The story opens in New York City at the “Howard Anthony Stark Institute for Technical Excellence,” where Doreen Green is a volunteer in a teaching programming.  Her latest pupils are a group of New Jersey high school students that includes Kamala Kahn.  Things go immediately wrong when gun-wielding agents of A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics) invade the institute, and their targets are the students.  Now, the Unbeatable Squirrel Girl and Ms. Marvel will have a chance to discover how much fun the two of them can have working together.

When I first heard of “Marvel Rising,” I wondered if it was Marvel's answer to DC Entertainment's (DC Comics) "DC Super Hero Girls" action figure franchise, which includes a series of apparently popular and (sometimes) bestselling graphic novels.  I think “Marvel Rising” is a way to introduce new readers who are not white males to Marvel Comics by offering comic books that feature non-white male characters, for the most part.

Of the eight characters featured on the cover of Marvel Rising #0, six are female characters of various ages and ethnicities.  There is one young black male and one young white male.  The 10-page story featured in this comic book focuses on two female characters, Squirrel Girl and Ms. Marvel, who is a Pakistani-American.  From what I can tell, the four Marvel Rising comic books will feature a group of characters comprised of six females, two males, a dog (the Inhuman Lockjaw), and a squirrel that must be a mascot or something to Squirrel Girl.

As for the 10-page story, it is not something great, but it is what American comic books need more – a fun superhero story that can be enjoyed by young readers and maybe even open-minded older readers.  Broad, fun comic books is something writer Devin Grayson does well.

The art by Marco Failla is pretty and features strong compositions and good storytelling.  As usual, Rachelle Rosenberg covers the art in pretty colors, and Clayton Cowles delivers effective lettering that sells the pace, tone, and mood of the story.

Dear readers, get thee to a comic book story and get the free Marvel Rising #0.  I know I want more Marvel Rising comics and look forward to the summer releases.

7.5 out of 10

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


The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint or syndication rights and fees.

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IReadsYou Review: UGLIES: Cutters

UGLIES: CUTTERS
BALLANTINE BOOKS/DEL REY – @delreyspectra

CREATOR: Scott Westerfeld
WRITERS: Scott Westerfeld, Devin Grayson
ART: Steven Cummings
TONES/LETTERS: Yishan Li
COVER: Steven Cummings with Espen Grundetjern
ISBN: 978-0-345-52723-3; paperback (December 4, 2012)
176pp, B&W, $10.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN

Scott Westerfeld is an American science fiction author who has written several book series aimed at the young adult market (YA). The Uglies is a series of young adult, science fiction/fantasy novels written by Westerfeld. The series, which began in 2005 with the publication of Uglies, is set 300 years in the future in a time in which everyone is turned “pretty” by extreme cosmetic surgery. The Uglies’ central character is Tally Youngblood, a teen girl who rebels against this forced conformity.

Uglies: Cutters is the second of two original graphic novels that are set in the world of the Uglies and tell new stories through the eyes of Tally’s friend, Shay, another teen girl. Like the first graphic novel (Uglies: Shay’s Story), Uglies: Cutters is scripted by Devin Grayson from a story by Scott Westerfeld and is drawn by artist Steven Cummings.

Uglies: Cutters apparently takes place after the second prose novel in the series, Pretties (2005). The series’ lead character, Tally Youngblood, and her best friend, Shay, have undergone “the Surge,” which is the rite-of-passage surgery that transforms them from “Ugly” to “Pretty.” Shay now lives in New Pretty Town enjoying the good life, and she is hoping to be inducted into Tally’s clique, the “Crims” (short for “criminal”).

Shay, however, is troubled by her new life as a stunning beauty. She is plagued by bad dreams and is somewhat distressed that she cannot remember much about her time in “The Smoke,” a wilderness camp where runaways live. She also has noticed that both Tally and Zane, a boy Shay likes, are always together and have been acting strangely. Suddenly, distrustful of her friend, Shay starts to gather a rebellious group of her own, the “Cutters.” But Shay is fighting on three fronts: against Tally, the mysterious Special Circumstances, and Dr. Cable, and this fight will be tougher than she realizes.

Like Shay’s Story, Uglies: Cutters deals with adolescent themes of emotional and physical change, but Cutters is more about the aftermath of such changes. Cutters also emphasizes the conflict within social groups, depicting rivalries and jealousies. Cutters is about suspicious minds, and Shay’s mind is full of suspicions, and, in a way, that makes her something akin to an unreliable narrator. For instance, is she creating a love triangle (involving herself, Tally, and Zane) where none exists? The fun is that you never know how much truth there is to her inklings.

Early in Cutters, the authors focus in on the shallowness of Pretty life, so much so that the story turns as shallow as party-happy Pretty. Gradually, however, the narrative comes together, and Cutters reveals itself to be something more than just science fiction-fantasy. It is also a mystery story, with the lead characters trying to unravel a conspiracy and uncover secrets, all the while going through some mean teen angst. Uglies: Cutters starts off badly, but gets better as the story goes along. It ends with a bang, maybe even leaving you wanting more.

B

www.delreybooks.com

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

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Amazon wants me to inform/remind you that any affiliate links found on this page are PAID ADS, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on affiliate links like these, BOOKS PAGE, GRAPHIC NOVELS, or MANGA PAGE and BUY something(s).

IReadsYou Review: UGLIES: Shay's Story

UGLIES: SHAY’S STORY
BALLANTINE BOOKS/DEL REY

CREATOR: Scott Westerfeld
WRITERS: Scott Westerfeld, Devin Grayson
ART: Steven Cummings
TONES/LETTERS: Yishan Li
ISBN: 978-0-345-52722-6; paperback
208pp, B&W, $10.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN

Scott Westerfeld is an American science fiction author who has written several book series aimed at the young adult market (YA). One of them is the Uglies series, a quartet of science fiction and fantasy novels that began in 2005 with the publication of Uglies (Simon Pulse). The Uglies is set 300 years in the future in a time in which everyone is turned “pretty” by extreme cosmetic surgery. The Uglies’ central character is Tally Youngblood, a teen girl who rebels against this forced conformity.

Uglies: Shay’s Story is the first of two original graphic novels set in the world of the Uglies and tells new stories through the eyes of Tally’s friend, Shay, another teen girl. Uglies: Shay’s Story is scripted by Devin Grayson from a story by Scott Westerfeld and is drawn by artist Steven Cummings.

As Uglies: Shay’s Story begins, Shay is a few months shy of her sixteenth birthday, the age at which one undergoes “the Surge,” which is the rite-of-passage surgery that will transform her into a “Pretty.” Currently, she is an “Ugly,” an ordinary human who has not had the surgery. Shay befriends “the Crims” (criminals), a group of fellow teens who say they don’t want to have the surgery. She joins the Crims: Zane, Croy, Astrix, and Ho by exploring past the monitored borders and going into the forbidden, ungoverned wild. This journey makes her think about her future. Shay must decide the path she will choose: become a Pretty or remain one of the Uglies.

Like the source material (the Uglies novels, of course), Uglies: Shay’s Story deals with adolescent themes of emotional and physical change. What really drives Shay’s Story is conflict. The central conflict is a personal one: preservation of one’s personal will versus the longing to conform. The other line of conflicts pits a dystopian society’s need for uniformity against the Uglies’ rebellious urges.

The conflicts play out in the most interesting ways because the players are teenagers about to enter adulthood, but who are also about to enter a world of choice and responsibility. Is becoming a “Pretty” about evolution and accepting adulthood? Are the teens who runaway just afraid to grow up? Uglies: Shay’s Story is a pop concept tailor-made for Hollywood, but the narrative plays out as a coming-of-age story that wants to be more complicated than the latest hot thing. It’s exciting and edgy, like our teenage years.

B+

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

----------------------------

Amazon wants me to inform/remind you that any affiliate links found on this page are PAID ADS, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on affiliate links like these, BOOKS PAGE, GRAPHIC NOVELS, or MANGA PAGE and BUY something(s).