Catch-Up: Shade the Changing Girl (#1-4)

[zapbiffpow]

Also from (and maybe the best of) the Young Animal line! Here's a quality, sometimes bubbly, sometimes poetic series about comic book resurrection, intergalactic pop culture, and the bittersweet journey of a second chance.

The CW should really look into this - it'd make a perfect sister series to iZombie. Check it!

Words: Cecil Castellucci
Art: Marley Zarcone
Colors: Kelly Fitzpatrick

The Story:

Oh thank God DC released these data sheets:

Flashback to before, where swim team captain Megan Boyer is a terrible person.

An accident happens in the lake, putting her into a coma, which she wakes up from in the beginning of the series:

In the present, Megan's parents aren't the only ones freaked by her return - her old swim team is, too, including ex-bestie Seema and then-boyfriend Wes:

Loma Shade finds she's stranded on Earth, and decides to pose as Megan until she can find her way back.

And in the last few pages, it's revealed why Megan's friends are so afraid of her return:

Issue #2

It's back to school for Loma after the accident, and although she's enjoying the sensations, being Megan is still kinda tough.

Well, when Miss Hot and Popular becomes The Campus Weirdo, people tend to notice. Fortunately, most of the extras pass it off as lingering brain damage.

Loma goes to the library, where she finds Teacup, who was her host body's personal Friend She Only Keeps Around to Bully...and River, another school 'loser'.

Loma's Madness Vest acts out, casting hallucinations on Megan's friends and driving them away, while also absorbing vibes from the lake incident from Teacup into Loma.

A confused Loma turns to River for help:

Issue #3

Another piece of the lake incident comes to light, as its revealed Teacup was the one who rescued Megan:

Loma decides to find out what exactly the hell was wrong with Megan Boyer to make people hate her.

River finally gives and tells her the ugly truth about Loma's host:

"So you lie, and hope they believe you." Oh, man. To the pain.

Issue #4:

A bummed-out Loma turns to the TV show that got her into Earth fangirlism in the first place, "Life with Honey".

Picking up the apology episode, Loma decides to apply that to Megan's own life:

That's my favorite page ever! It's so sweet.

That night, Megan's ex-boyfriend comes over and asks if he can stay the night.

They cuddle, but Loma's day of heartfelt apologies is shattered when the Madness Vest acts up again, forcing her to absorb Wes' memories and learn the truth about what happened in the lake:

Anyway, I think I like this as much as Doom Patrol! Seeing Loma's wonders and disappointments about Earth and learning about the bully Megan used to be is such a nice, full story. No actionization, but it's about the people, which this book is really good at.

Next up is something from Titans, or this week's DC run. Stay tuned!

Comments

[tcampbell1000]

I've been a little negative on here lately, so I thought I'd just pop in to say this is a really neat and well-done series. That WHO'S WHO-style profile sure brought back some memories, too.

[zapbiffpow]

Hey, you're welcome! It's my pleasure to help cover the actual decent DC titles this place might actually like. (If there was recent legislation regulating passive-aggressiveness due to global shortage, please confirm as needed. Thanks!)

P.S. I did not know those recap pages were an old thing! Nice bit of trivia there.

[tcampbell1000]

They were one of the things that made me an ongoing comics fan. I collected CAPTAIN CARROT for a while in my wayward youth, and when DC put out its first WHO'S WHO volume in 1985, one of the Captain Carrot characters was included. I don't know if I would have gotten into the big comics universes with the same enthusiasm if I hadn't had that little cognitive reward.

[kamino_neko]

You were a Captain Carrot fan? I like you even more, now, dude. >_>

[beyondthefringe]

The old-style Who's Who and Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe were some of the best comics reading my much-younger self could ever have asked for. Especially since I could revel in the obscurity of characters I'd never heard of before. So I love seeing these come back.

[zapbiffpow]

I might put out some pages from both the Marvel and DC Who's Who's, if I can find them!

As for Captain Carrot, I'll be posting his recent appearance in Superman, but only once I'm sure there's an upswing ending there. Can't have folks going blitzkrieg on that ongoing, it's a good book.

[mrstatham]

The Young Animal stuff all seems really, really top-tier from what I've seen. Definitely very much Vertigo before it became what it is - the 'weird' section of the DCU, cordoned off to let creators go nuts.

This certainly looks as good as Doom Patrol, art and writing-wise, so I'll definitely be getting the trade. Thank you for posting this, OP!

[zapbiffpow]

Yeah, I'm loving this weird little world free of the regular DC universe! (Not a slam on the mainstream 'verse, of course.) Although that separation might be subject to change soon, from what I gather from YA's April solicitations.

For what it's worth, I'm stoked to see how Gerard Way writes Superman.

[mrstatham]

That's kinda why I see it as like, old Vertigo. Back before they branched off properly and were basically DC's indie line and they still featured DC characters without wholly laying claim to them.

I haven't actually been keeping track of solicits lately, which makes what I'm reading more interesting, somehow, but.. I'm confident Way will do fine with Superman. If he's taking notes from Morrison like he has with Doom Patrol overall, it shouldn't be bad.

[pyrrhocorax]

I love this and the new Doom Patrol from what’s been posted, now my problem is just choosing between them!

[zapbiffpow]

Both, if you can (ha!), but Shade if you're a fan of cute and talking-things-out stories; Doom Patrol if you're a fan of weird and action-y stories. Glad you liked Young Animal!