Customer Reviews

Morning Glories Volume 1 TP

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The one line summary of this would be The Prisoner but set in a boarding school. A longer introduction would be six teens are offered scholarships at the Morning Glory academy, one of the most exclusive schools in America. They soon find their parents have forgotten them, their roommate is out to kill them and the teachers try to drown them. And that's the first day.

It's an engaging book and a real page turner. Nick Spencer's writing ropes you in early and doesn't let go. Joe Eisma's art is strong throughout and he uses things like page layout to give each character a memorable introduction.

But Eisma's art is also a problem. In a book where the main characters are all wearing school uniforms you really an artist who can draw different faces and different body types and do it consistently. But Eisma, like many comic artists, gives everyone the same face, the same body and relies on different hair colors and styles to tell them apart. One character is Japanese, another Indian but I could not tell that from their features, only from dialogue. Hopefully Eisma will be able to do more to differentiate them in later books.

My only other quibble is this book omits the great covers by Rodin Esquejo that the individual issues had. They were very strong and got me interested, I can't imagine why they were left out.

Despite these misgivings I really like this book, I really recommend it and I intend to stay on. It certainly has the potential to be a new classic.

It is a great time to be Nick Spencer. He has come on the mainstream radar with a vengeance lately with the announcement of his upcoming writing on Secret Avengers. He is also writing Iron Man 2.0, the new War Machine ongoing from Marvel that debuted this February. For someone that had such a hard time getting started, he has had a wealth of success. He took the creator-owned root with quite a few successes published by Image including Forgetless and Shuddertown. His miniseries Existence has even been purchased by Paramount Pictures.

This brings me to Spencer's first on-going series "Morning Glories." Since the first issue came out in in August 2010, I have had a few people recommend it to me. Unfortunately the first time that I have picked it up is now that the Volume 1 Trade Paperback is out.

Morning Glory Academy

"One of the most prestigious prep schools in the country....But behind it's hallowed doors something sinister and deadly lurks. When six brilliant but troubled new students arrive, they find themselves trapped and desperately seeking answers...and escape from a place where nothing is what it seems to be!"


Opening the book, right off the bat, you are treated to a huge spread of the main ensemble of characters. Immediately I am impressed by the fact that even though the kids are all dressed in prep school uniforms, the individual personalities of the characters are apparent. This is no small feat accomplished by Joe Eisma (Notorious, Dodge's Bullets). The warm palate and bright highlights of Alex Sollazzo (Marineman) are a nice addition as well.

The first issue of the comic was originally released in a double sized 48-page debut and immediately sold out. The hype might have been in part because of the right out of the gate action sequence that immediately lets the reader know there is something terribly wrong at this school. You have students causing explosions to escape from this prep school, someone with super powers?, and lots of blood and drama (including a dude with his eyeball hanging precariously out of his head. Sweet.). I was pretty immediately hooked. Frames included in the book are meant to make you have questions and it works. Just a few pages into the book, there is deep forboding for the arrival of our main cast. It is quite apparent where the "Runaways Meets Lost" reference to the series comes from. Questions met with more questions.

The rest of the trade was more of the same. A great central mystery that keeps you hooked without offering many answers, funny dialogue with pop culture references, and action and adventure. If the story can stay as intense then I'm in. Already added it to my pull box. Next time however, they should include the covers of the serials in the trade paperback. The only other complaint I might have is I am not a big fan of the name. As a female geek, I don't like to fall into girl stereotypes. And reading a comic called "Morning Glories" seems like one of those.

Morning Glories offers a great idea (a sinister academy for talented teens with some Lost-ish mysticism) and some lovely art (especially for those partial to 16-year-old T&A). Unfortunately, the writing--which thinks itself very clever--ranges from vacuous to laughable.

There are lots of PARANORMAL MYSTERIES, the school's staff are INCREDIBLY EVIL, and the kids act like the Breakfast Club cranked up to 11. There are some fun moments to be found here, but the comic fails to create a universe that feels internally consistent. The bad guys repeatedly do things that just don't make any sense, waving these things off as part of the MYSTERIOUS PLAN. I'm happy to suspend my disbelief for the sake of a good story, but when crazy things are happening all the time, there's no coherent story left to care about. In every confrontation, I found myself asking--and failing to answer--the basic question: What are the stakes here?

I had high hopes for Morning Glories. But at some point, I just couldn't bring myself to care.

This is a classic case of the saying "Never judge a book by its cover." I have seen this comic in the comic book store for months now, and never picked it up. Why? Because the cover art led me to believe that this comic was about some group of adolescent teenyboppers and the trials that they faced. I like darker, more noir comics, so this one made me roll my eyes and sigh.

One day I was reading a comment that someone left on Twitter, which talked about how awesome the Morning Glories series is. I decided to give it a try and ordered this trade. I opened the package, and again noted the "girlishness" of the cover art, and prepared myself for the horrific world of book reports, makeup and Justin Bieber.

I read through ("devoured" is probably a better term) the book in a day. It was that good, people.

This comic is somewhat violent at times, definately dark, but provides the right amount of sweet innocence and flavor so as to balance out the more grim premises which underly the storyline. The art is incredible, and the writing is such as to suck you in to the world of the comic.

Would I recommend this to children? No way. This is definately not a story that you will want to read to your kids. But if you love original comics with unique storylines, great art, and sarcastic humor, then this is definately the comic for you.

Happy reading!

Morning Glories was the best, most exciting new comics series of 2010, and the first story arc has finally come out in this trade paperback. The awesomeness of Morning Glories is largely due to writer Nick Spencer, who packs as much finely crafted, twisty plot in one issue as other writers might stretch out over three or four issues.

The beginning premise of the story is that six very different kids are recruited and admitted into a maximum-security school with a secret, ruthless mission.

A word of warning, though -- if you start reading, the series will hook you for good. And for each question Spencer answers about the characters and the school, several new Hydra-like questions will arise. Waiting for the next issue could drive an impatient reader crazy.

First of all I'd like to say that the cover art is simply stunning! It's a shame they didn't include all the covers of volumes 1-6!
The actual drawings inside are OK, but are thousands light years away from the cover art level. Well, that's OK since 2 different artists did them.
The paper quality is great too, you're gonna love it.
But the story itself...
While we have interesting characters to watch, the plot isn't good enough to get really hooked.
This first volume doesn't reveal many secrets, it does make you want to know what happens next BUT I literally hated the supernatural stuff going on.
Could they just do without it? We've seen enough of such mysteries already. I'd like them to have REAL mysteries, not that unnatural (even silly!) and far from being creepy stuff.
Don't believe anyone who says this comic is scary. It IS interesting enough to keep reading, but not scary and not in any way a masterpiece.
Although I have pre-ordered volume 2, I'm still in doubts whether to stay with these characters in the future.

I picked this up on the advice of a friend and have since gotten my local store to pull monthlies for me. I really hate writing book reviews because I dont want to give too much away. Its not too big of a deal yet I suppose as the first 5 issues just barely scratch the surface. All we know is that there are 6 students recruited to the most prestigious prep school in the country (or world) and that a lot of strange stuff happens there. It is for a mature audience as people start dying right after the school is introduced. It only hints at what is actually going on in the school - and that storyline seems to develop at a good pace - they tell you just enough to keep you interested and eager for the next issue/TPB.

Drawing inspiration from The Prisoner and Lost by way of Joss Whedon, this first volume of Morning Glories, a new ongoing series from writer Nick Spencer and artist Joe Eisma, has the hallmarks of a soon-to-be-classic. By combining an escalating series of mysteries, science, horror, and dead-on characterizations, this is a truly exciting opening volley.

Six students are accepted into the Morning Glories academy, a prestigious institution well known for its academic excellence. Once situated at the school, they quickly learn that they have been cut off from society and their lives erased. Prisoners within the academy, they are surrounded by brainwashed students, murderous teachers, a violent apparition, and an odd object in the basement that seems to be defying physics. Each of these six possesses remarkable intelligence, but even their quick thinking may not help them escape the dangers lurking in every corner of the prep school.

Spencer crams a lot of mysteries into this first volume, sustaining the narrative momentum by peppering every action sequence with question upon question. Although it is short on answers--presumably those will come later as the series progresses--Morning Glories is heavily stocked with surprises that constantly raise the stakes, providing one plot wrinkle after another. Not content to settle in with just the here-and-now struggles of life at the academy, Spencer further confounds things by taking a few temporal detours into the far past and an unspecified point in the future. There are a lot of hair-raising plot twists and very interesting, imaginative questions being posed as the students struggle to understand the strange place they have unwittingly enrolled in.

While there is a lot of heavy lifting in terms of plot, which asks readers to stick it out for the long haul, where Spencer truly excels is his characterizations of the teenage students. Like Joss Whedon, of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame, Spencer is able to create a likeable cast of well-rounded, pop-culture-influenced kids. Each has a unique personality, and their dialogue and exchanges are true to the ear and, often, wickedly entertaining. He quickly establishes two characters, Ike, an anarchist, and boy-crazed, attitudinally maladjusted Zoe, as the ones to watch out for. Casey, who quickly establishes herself as the de facto leader of the group, is smart and quick-witted, but also possess an incredible reserve of inner strength, particularly given the horrifying personal disasters she suffers through.

Joe Eisma helps Spencer define these characters, giving each of them their own distinct look to ensure that readers won't accidentally mix up who's who. His panel work is clean and nicely detailed, and he gives appropriate space and weight to the book's biggest shocks and moments of violence. He crafts several memorable pieces of art that are both horrifying and compelling. His visuals suitably match Spencer's twisting narrative, allowing the reader to be drawn into the story at all levels as he creates surprising, gut-wrenching moments that are impossible to turn away from.

Although Morning Glories is inspired by several major works of pop culture, Spencer's story never feels like it's a retread. There are undeniable parallels to other popular series like Lost, right down to flashbacks and flash-forwards, but, to his credit, Spencer seems to at least acknowledge these influences as his characters name-drop a few of them as they come to terms with their ordeals. His cast possesses a nice sense of self-awareness, drawing analogies to A Clockwork Orange, letting readers know that neither these characters nor their creators live in a vacuum. If anything, Spencer is drawing on a feeling of familiarity that comic and pop-culture aficionados share in order to craft a series that is instantly welcome, but still feels fresh thanks to the original setting and cast he's playing with.

Although it's too soon to call it, if Spencer is able to sustain the excellence on display in this first volume, Morning Glories may soon be looked upon as fondly as Image Comics' better-known series The Walking Dead. By layering the mysteries and conspiracies that surround the Morning Glories academy along with a strong and enjoyable cast of characters, Spencer gives us a work that constantly fires on all cylinders. There are a tremendous amount of questions levied in this first book, and as a series, Morning Glories asks for a lot of commitment from readers. After finishing this opening volume, it will surely be a commitment that is freely given.

There is a sense of weight and momentum about this story, one that constantly asks "What comes next?" and by book's end readers will be left wanting more. It's a heady, compelling start that fuses quantum mechanics with historical mysteries and dashes of violent horror. The end result is a compulsive and addictive story that sinks its claws deep into the reader, and one of the year's best and most original works.


-- Michael Hicks

Great story-telling, beautiful art, VERY well thought out characters. Makes me miss my High School days. Just a Fantastic Comic!

SPOILERS

Starting points - they're easy enough to create but it's developing them and turning them into something and then ending them that makes a story. Unless you're creating a lengthy series in which case, say, in the first book of a comic book series you introduce a load of characters and throw in a barnyard full of starting points to be developed later. And that's precisely what you get with "Volume 1: For a Better Future".

Except it's not enough. It's not enough to introduce a number of teenage characters and put them in a school. Especially when it's a school run by murderous teachers where the classrooms are deathtraps, there are roving security squads everywhere, vengeful ghosts, homicidal classmates, insinuations upon insinuations of stories to come, a cult in the basement, a mysterious object that revolves and causes death, a 15th century ghost (yes another murderous ghost!), and (deep breath) doppelgangers.

See, it's too much. There's no explanation for why such a school exists and for what purpose. None of the ghosts are explained, nor why the students were "chosen" nor why anything that happens to them happens for a reason. As such their actions are perplexing - why accept such radical surroundings so easily? Your parents were tortured to death in the basement - so why so stoic about it? You're being hunted for some reason and one of the people you just met is going to be executed - why?

It's easy to throw in stuff that seems interesting, it's another to develop them and turn them into something more. Maybe this happens in later books but when so much is crammed into a first book it tells me the creators are trying too hard and/or have no idea what they're doing. These kind of things should be teased out over time. The first book should establish the main story but instead there's so much happening you never get to catch your breath and figure out what this series is supposed to be about. All you're left with is a dozen unresolved plot points that seem to have no connection.

To some, this might be exactly what they're looking for. Tantalising storylines, but for me I prefer for it to have a point rather than a mishmash of non-sequiturs that become less than the sum of its parts. Nick Spencer writes like a less talented Brian Vaughan and "Morning Glories" comes across as a knockoff of "Runaways" while the art is far from spectacular looking like Pia Guerra's work on an off day.

I've read a ton of comics and can tell when a series is worth following and maybe to teenagers this is just the ticket but not for me. "Morning Glories" is the product of too many ideas put together to resemble a shapeless mess.