Morning Glories #5 – Review

by Nick Spencer (writer), Joe Eisma (art), Alex Sollazzo (colors), and Johnny Lowe (letters)

The Story: Backed into a corner, Casey and Zoe try to evade their pursuers while doggedly continuing on with their rescue attempt.

What’s Good: This was my favourite issue of Morning Glories since the series debut blew me away.  It’s compulsively readable and it’s a book that keeps you on the edge of your seat, flipping the pages, marveling at Spencer’s expert storytelling.

Let’s start with how he structures and plots this issue.  Spencer alternates between a monologue by the rather intimidating Mr. Gribbs and the actual action at hand.  Gribbs, we learn, is very different from Daramount, but no less intimidating.  He does something terribly disturbing in the most mundane fashion at the end of the conversation that is guaranteed to haunt you.  More than that, his dialogue is simply superb and unveils Gribbs to be a fully realized character and a very different antagonist from Daramount.

Better still, however, is how Spencer has Casey’s plan unfold.  At the end of the issue, it’s hard not to be blown away by how things work out.  By the end of this issue, Spencer reveals that he has misled us just as Casey had misled the teaching staff.  We were led to believe exactly what they were.  When we’re told what the plan really was, it’s absolutely brilliant and causes us to respect Casey and, of course, Spencer by extension.  It’s a genius piece of misdirection by Spencer and one that makes us question the faith we have in the text itself; we readers can be tricked just the same as the characters we’re reading about.

Morning Glories #3 – Review

by Nick Spencer (writer), Joe Eisma (art), Alex Sollazzo (colors), and Johnny Lowe (letters)

The Story: Casey tries to rescue Jade, who discovers another secret on her way to the nurse’s office.

What’s Good: There’s some really awesomely powerful stuff going on at Morning Glories Academy.  From the first page onward,  Spencer is great enhances the power and scope of the Academy and its secrets.  The menace is, as a result, more palpable and there’s a greater sci-fi/fantasy edge to it all.  Basically, we’re able to get a better handle on the sort of mystery we’re dealing with here, and it’s one that is ancient, powerful, and seems to involve human experimentation (maybe?).  Either way, I’m interested, and thinks get a whole lot bigger and, at time, portentous than last month.

Spencer also gives us some really good dialogue between Casey and Ike.  It’s one of the many unique dynamics between MG’s characters.  The conversation between the two characters also makes Ike into more of a Lex Luthor type figure; he’s an arrogant rogue and an SOB, but he’s always just about ready to be a good guy.  Regardless, his voice is bang-on and a joy to read.

Casey is also positioned quite expertly by Spencer.  On the one hand, it’s clear that Spencer intends her to be the “hero” of the story, and the group.  However, despite this, she’s easy to relate to and root for and she never comes across as bland.  She’s a fully realized character with real emotions and qualities and I find her to be a sympathetic and strong lead character.