Morning Glories #21 Review

Posted on 7:36 pm, 28th August 2012 by Clarence | Email the author

Not your average students

Written by Nick Spencer. Drawn by Joe Eisma. Colored by Alex Sollazzo.

Here’s my take on the Morning Glories premise as a newcomer: a boarding school gathers students and molds them to play roles that will help “save the world,” whatever that means to the Morning Glories Academy powers-that-be. I’ve read other reviews of Glories #20 and saw those reviewers are baffled just like I am here.

This issue takes place in the woods after Zoe’s death. It also goes back and forth between flashbacks four years ago and the present. Twin brothers Jun and Hisao are part of separate factions. A ceremony with Jun’s group is soon to begin. Irina demands total focus to the mission; she orders her team to go to “the tower.”

There’s a sequence where a few pages where she makes out with a guy named Steve who takes her to see a shocking sight in a flashback, then back in the present she acts compassionate with Hisao, calling him her “brother.” The following pages show Irina’s manipulative side at work.

Regarding the flashbacks: Giullame and Akiko dread their roommates. Fortunato, the object of Akiko’s crush, is quiet. Ian, who may have feelings for Akiko, is a total nerd. Vanessa tries to act like a typical high school girl. Irina acts as if her new school is just the environment in which she’ll thrive.

Regarding the ceremony: I’m in the dark with what’s at stake and whose side I’m supposed be on. That doesn’t make MG any less interesting, though.

This issue seems like an episode of Lost where we get to know Ben Linus and the Others. Glories‘ soft colors and rounder edges aren’t what I immediately think of for a dark mystery that throws up more questions than answers, but somehow it harmonizes well with the creepy atmosphere.

Spencer’s characters are compelling enough for this newbie to give Morning Glories #21 three hooves out of four.