This new take on the magical girl genre is off to an awesome start!
One thing I love about comics is the ability to tell stories with different types of genres, characters, settings, and art styles to create something unique, interesting, and hopefully entertaining. I can wholeheartedly say this about Power Up, a book that has a delightfully animated art style, along with a great cast and unique premise that makes it really entertaining. As far first issues go, this book hits it out of the park and makes me psyched for more.
Power Up stars Amie, a young woman with a normal job, a pet porcupine, and an easygoing lifestyle. While her job my be boring and her boss a little high-strung, she is perfectly content, friendly, and pretty dang lovable. Things get a little strange however when a flash blinding light and a mysterious intruder brings about a major change in her everyday routine.
One thing that stands out in Power Up, besides the awesome artwork of Matt Cummings, is the characters. This book has one of the most diverse cast of characters I’ve seen in a while. Not just racial and gender diversity, but characters with different body types as well; Amie herself is plus-sized. I believe that diversity and representation are never a bad thing; this may be a non-issue for some, but I certainly appreciate it.
Writer Kate Leth does a great job of making these characters seem real and easy to relate to. There’s a scene in the middle of the book where Amie explains her bus situation to her boss Karen. I really related to this, since I also commute to work and know how much of a pain it can be. The way characters address one another doesn’t feel stilted and there is a nice flow to the dialogue. It’s also nice that none of the characters feel one-dimensional. Amie’s boss Karen for instance my seem like a bit strict, but she’s not mean or uncaring. I love how a character like this can feel so layered in only a single issue of a comic.
Moving on to the artwork, to put it simply, it’s awesome! It has a very animated look to it with bright colors, simply drawn characters, and nice scenery. It really looks like it could be an animated series. This book looks really nice overall, especially on the tablet screen I read it on. The book is also really well-paced. A lot of this issue is setup the adventure likely to take place over the course of the series, but it never felt boring and I enjoyed pretty much every page of this issue.
I took a random shot at this book because I follow the writer on Twitter and the premise, while sounding a little silly, at least seemed interesting. I’m really happy I checked this out, because this is one of my favorite first issues in a long time. The characters are really likable, the artwork is fantastic, and the story is just really fun. I really can’t wait to read the next issue. I’d say give this book a try if you’re look for a fun, all ages friendly comic with really nice, animated artwork.
Comic Credits: Publisher: Boom Studios, Writer: Kate Leth, Art and Cover: Matt Cummings, Designer: Michelle Ankley, Editor: Shannon Watters
Afterword
Hi everyone. It sure has been a while. I’m sorry I have not updated this or any of my personal blogs in quite some time. One of the reasons I started writing on WordPress is that I wanted to give my thoughts on subjects I really enjoyed. I really enjoyed Power Up, so I wanted to give my thoughts on it. I hope you enjoyed this review and hopefully I’ll be back again soon. I mean seriously, those My Little Pony comic reviews aren’t going to write themselves! Until then, take care!