Honestly, this week is a bit dry in terms of new content. A few issue ones are coming out, but many like Gingerdead Man, The Land That Time Forgot mini-series and Pathfinder belong to a much broader storyline or world. One special shout-out this week is to Aspen Comics. This year marks their 15 year anniversary and they have been celebrating by releasing cheap jumping-on issues for some of their most prominent titles. This week they are dropping Jinri Primer #1 for only 25 cents. Aspen is moving in the right direction with these series relaunches, driving an initiative to become a more welcoming and inclusive publisher. Also they are cutting down on variant printings, which in my opinion shows a lot of pride for their work. As for my main review this week let's go beyond the big two and see what's new.
Boom Studio dropped Lucy Dreaming #1 today and it has been an unexpected delight. Lucy Dreaming is anticipated to be a four issue mini-series about a girl who is quite literally living her dreams. From the description and the cover art, done by the comic’s artist Michael Dialynas, I expected this story to go an entirely different route. You know Disney show Pepper Ann, I imagined a comic very similar to that show. What I loved about Pepper Ann is that she was this fun, rebellious and inventive pre-teen girl who lived out her emotions in day-dreams. She was confident and used her mind to make herself into whatever she wanted. That preconceived notion was completely thrown out the door. Instead of a relatable middle-schooler, Lucy is a relatable teenager, with all the angst and introverted attitude many of us haven’t outgrown.
Moon Knight writer Mike Bemis does great job in making a character who express the sarcasm, cynicism and self-consciousness of the modern teenager. Like many Harry Potter, Twilight and classic literature lovers Lucy just really only has one interest, books. It’s her escapism and undivided interest in English class that really speaks to many readers. The writing overall is very solid, from her internalized monologues to her dialogue. The dream sequences are also very interesting and vibrant. I really love the use of pink and blue colors; they tend to hide the impending danger of the dream world. The comic ends in a bit of a cliffhanger, and leaves us with many unanswered questions. Lucy’s dream traversing powers aren’t entirely unique to just her. It’s for that reason that I’m enjoying this series so far. It leaves a lot of room for speculation and a lot to be anticipated.