My go-to for when I do not think I can write 250 words for a review is I start brainstorming, writing things down. And I will do that with Primer by Jennifer Muro and Thomas Krajewski.
I have had a copy of Primer since goodness knows when. However, I misplaced it. Therefore, when I was browsing the local library website, I said, “Go for it. Just get it.”
I am not 10 years old. At least, physically. Mentally, however, I should be right there with Ashely and her friends. Yet, I was not completely there. This book is a typical 12–13-year-old teenager trying to be a superhero. I am not sure if the idea of a kid superhero is bad, but the fact that Ashley is very impulsive and should never have figured out how to be decent superhero, was a little off for me.
Ash is a typical pre-teen. She likes being mischievous, likes art, a loyal friend, is a great safecracker, and knows how to thieve with the best of them. Okay, maybe she is not typical, after all her biological father is a notorious criminal now incarcerated, and she is living in a group home after several failed foster home attempts. But she is a good kid at heart. And when the new foster family decides to take a chance on her, Ashely is willing to take a chance on them. What follows is a crazy adventure with “magic paint”, bullies, friendships, and awesome wigs. Bad guys and not-so-bad-bad guys all get a taste of Ashely and her superpowers, the powers that make her the new superhero, Primer.
Now, since this is a graphic novel, Gretel Lusky must be noted as the illustrator. Since the theme is about paint and art helping people be the best they can be, the art must equal that. Therefore, yes there is color everyplace! There are wonderfully mixed up and busy colors. The art is cute, fun, and lighthearted. Even the villains are boldly expressed, and a big-bad-really-nasty-solider boy covered in paint is maybe a little too funny (but also, oddly hot).
I am not sure if Primer is fresh for the teen crowd, or if she has been seen other places of the DC World (I am assuming as there is a Lois Lane graphic novel preview at the end and Batman is casually mentioned). To sum up this graphic novel, it is Squirrel Girl for the DC world.
