Mara, Vol. 1-6 by Brian Wood and Ming Doyle

Mara, Vol. 1-6 by Brian Wood and Ming Doyle
Series: Mara
Published by Image Comics on November 12, 2013
Genres: Science Fiction, Dystopian
Pages: 158 : Paperback edition
Source: Checked out from my local library
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GIRL vs. THE WORLD

A gifted athlete and a mega-celebrity, Mara Prince is a global brand and the most famous girl alive. But when she starts to manifest superhuman traits, her world starts to crumble around her.

Pursued by armies and governments, dropped by friends and sponsors, and dragged through the media, Mara Prince rebels. Rejecting those who’d reject her, she embarks on a global action to let all of humanity know: she won’t sit down and shut up.

Collects MARA #1-6

A lot of people may not know this but over the past year I have become a HUGE fan of the Image Comics publishing company. Most of their series’ have been right up my alley and all have the same kind of art style that I like to look for (i.e. Alex + Ada, Saga, etc). So, when I saw this at my library, I picked it up on a whim, hoping it would be like the other comics I have read from Image previously.

And I was so right. I mean take a look at the cover alone, it’s gorgeous. She looks like such a kick-ass female character (because she totally is) and the coloring reminded me of some Marvel comics that I have flipped through. Best of both worlds right? Right!

The story pulled me in from page one. We’re thrown into this futuristic world where the athletes reign supreme and pull the nation, and subsequently, the world, together since it’s being torn apart by war. The wars and why they were going on was a little underdeveloped, so I would have liked to see more background on that, but the basic point that war was going on and had changed society in drastic ways (children leave their parents at age seven or ten I believe).

Mara herself is such a cool character. I really like seeing diversity in comics, since it’s not something I’m exposed to that often in regular fiction novels (though this has been changing recently and that’s SUPER cool). She’s an African American female lead who suddenly develops super powers and goes through the process of learning about them and trying to escape governmental control of her mind and body. What’s not to love?

I hope the series does continue on since there were a ton of loose ends that didn’t get tied up, but if it doesn’t I think I can deal with the place that it was left in. A great story and quick read if you’re interested in female superheroes!