Xavier's School for Gifted Students...But for WIZARDS!: A Review of Strange Academy Volume I

 written by Skottie Young

drawn by Humberto Ramos

colored by Edgar Delgado

I'm not the biggest Harry Potter fan. I stopped reading the series after the fifth book, content to just finish the overarching seven-part story by watching the movies, not all of which I even enjoyed. Nor, for that matter, am I the biggest fan of the "magic" corner of the original, printed Marvel Universe. I was always more of a "traditional" superhero fan, and so apart from a handful Doctor Strange trade paperbacks, I don't have much by way of "magic" Marvel stories. 

What drew me to Marvel's relatively new book, Strange Academy, therefore, was an interesting creative team in Skottie Young (Rocket Raccoon), and Humberto Ramos (Champions).  Also, I have almost invariably enjoyed Humberto Ramos' work whenever he has worked on "kids' team" books like Runaways or Champions.  I'm happy to say, my curiosity was satisfied. 

As the title suggests, Strange Academy is a school for budding magic wielders, i.e. wizards or sorcerors, in the same way that Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Children (or the Jean Grey school...whatever they're calling it now) is a school for mutants, with one significant difference being that this school accepts students from other worlds like Asgard or Jotunheim, or even other dimensions, like the Dark Dimension. Told mainly from the point of view of Emily Bright (a new character introduced in this series), the first six issues focus mainly on the various students getting together and (of course) getting into some pretty hairy misadventures, often with pretty serious consequences. 

Generally, the book, as befits a story about children, is light-hearted in tone, though it does have its moments of darkness, as is also apropos for a story featuring, among others, the son of Dormammu.  On that note, I'll run through the cast very quickly, apart from the main character (and reader avatar) Emily Bright, the cast of students who form the book's core group is actually surprisingly big; there's (deep breath) Doyle Dormammu (yes, the son of that Dormammu), fairy Shaylee Moonpeddle, voodoo sorceress Zoe Laveau, twin Asgardian brothers Iric and Alvi Brorson, Frost Giant Guslaug, Despair the Demon from Limbo, Toth from Weirdworld, and "regular" kids Calvin Morse, whose jacket is apparently a magical being attuned only to him, and German Aguilar, who has the magic power to conjure up just about any animal. Of course, the faculty roster is a who's who of magical heavyweights in the Marvel Universe, including Scarlet Witch, Doctor Voodoo, Magik, Damion Hellstrom, Sister Grimm and the Ancient One, to name a few, with Doctor Strange popping up time and again for good measure.  

Notwithstanding his surprisingly large cast, Skottie Young navigates his story quite ably, crafting a pretty satisfying romp that spans the first six issues, even as he obviously teases more to come. There are some tropes, sure, but I quite like the way Young gave distinctive voices to each of these young characters. I don't quite appreciate his attempt to flip the bully-hero dynamic, i.e. Dormammu is the sympathetic character while one of the Asgardian twins is a bully, mainly because it feels heavy-handed at times, but on the whole the characters feel authentic and relatable.  Also, I know there's a certain tongue-in-cheekery going on here, but I really feel that the alliterative "Doyle Dormammu" feels a bit much. Would the Lord of the Dark Dimension really call his kid "Doyle?" 

Another thing I'd like to praise is the choice of location. I really, really liked that the story was set in New Orleans, not because I have any particular affinity for the place but because it was really refreshing that they didn't set it in New York or any other "traditional" superhero hub like a big, bustling metropolitan city. A mystically-concealed mansion in the midst of Big Easy seems just like the right place for powerful young wielders of the mystic arts to truly master their abilities. 

Speaking of young characters, this series features Humberto Ramos very much in his element. I know I've been quite vocal about how he was a poor fit for Nick Spencer's sequel to Kraven's Last Hunt over in The Amazing Spider-Man a few years back, but this is the kind of book in which Ramos truly shines; it's like he was born to draw teen team books, whether it's Runaways, Champions or this.  It's particularly helpful that all of these kids are original characters, so Ramos doesn't have to deal with the baggage of living up to someone else's designs, even though several of the Strange Academy students have obvious visual ties to the realms from which they hail, whether it's Doyle Dormammu's flaming head or Despair's cloven hooves. Ramos really stamps his signature on these characters and it's really pleasant to behold. 

The volume neatly wraps up its story arc, even as it ends on an obvious cliffhanger, but I don't mind; given how much I've enjoyed this series so far, I'm more than willing to indulge Young and Ramos their tropes. 

Bring on Volume 2!

8.5/10

The Apocalypse Through the Eyes of an Innocent: A Review of Sweet Tooth

 created for television by 

Jim Mickle

based on the DC Vertigo Series by 

Jeff Lemire

As someone who quite faithfully followed The Walking Dead television series for six whole years up until the time that Glenn Rhee, the character played by Steven Yeun who first appeared in Season One and who was a mainstay of the show, died brutally at the hands of Jeffrey Dean Morgan's evil-yet-charismatic Negan, I can say with some confidence that I know a little about shows set in the apocalypse, and what makes them work well as narrative and what doesn't.   No matter how cool the zombie makeup may be or how gratuitous the gore, it's always the human element that will keep the series going, and when Glenn, the single most prominent avatar of the human element in TWD was taken out of the cast, I just completely lost interest in the show. 

Sweet Tooth marks my return to serialized post-apocalyptic narrative since I quit watching The Walking Dead nearly half-a-decade ago, and while it's definitely got its own issues, I really appreciated it as something hearkens back to the days when I still senjoyed The Walking Dead.  

Long story short, this series takes place in an apocalypse that has followed a global pandemic (sound familiar) but this one hasn't resulted in any zombies, just as disease called--prosaically enough--"the sick" and, coincidentally or not, the sudden birth of babies that are part human, part...animal.

The main character, Gus, or "Sweet Tooth" as he is dubbed by another character, is one such hybrid. Played by newcomer, Christian Convery, he is both a boy on a mission to find his mother and a fugitive, sought after by the "Last Men" the soldiers of the shadowy quasi-government that has sprung up from the ashes of a collapsed civilization. Fortunately for Gus, he has ex-Last Man and enormous former NFL player Tommy Jepperd (Nonzi Anozie) watching his back. Still, it may not be enough.

There's a lot going on in this series, even with only eight episodes. Running parallel to Gus's story is that of Dr. Adityah Singh (Adeel Akhtar) a doctor whose wife (Aliza Vellani) has the Sick, and for whom he would do anything, even things that go against his very vows as a physician, as well as that of Aimee (Dania Ramirez) a former couples' therapist who had decided to live out the apocalypse alone, until a hybrid baby was dropped off at her doorstep. All of these stories tie together by the eighth episode.

As I said, earlier, I really quite liked this series. I liked how it juxtaposed the darkness of humanity against the light, and the innocence of Gus and the other hybrid children against the murderous intent of those who view them as nothing more than puzzles to be dissected in the relentless quest for a cure for the Sick. There are no zombies here, but humanity is arguably much, much scarier. It just makes for really compelling storytelling at this stage. 

That  said, I have to be frank; as charming as Convery is as Gus, I don't see the storytellers sustaining this dynamic of wide-eyed innocence versus the evils of humanity for more than a couple of seasons at most. From a story perspective, it simply isn't possible to keep beating the same drum without eventually sounding monotonous, but from a casting perspective, it's even more complicated.

Christian Convery works as Gus because, well, he's a cute kid who effectively conveys Gus' utter guilelessness. The thing is, he will grow up, the same way The Walking Dead's Chandler Rigg did. That wasn't much of a problem from a narrative perspective considering that the focus was ever and always on the adult characters like Rick, Daryl, Michonne at al, but considering that the title character is a young child, whose cuteness and charm were an integral part of the narrative for the first season, I can't help but think that a surly, hulking teenager is going to be a lot less charming than a kid, and Convery's growth spurt can't be more than a season or two away.

So either the story has to reflect his growth and somehow keep up with it, or they'll have to recast him, or, in true Netflix fashion, the showrunners will have to end the show after a few seasons.

Whatever they ultimately decide, I've been won over by this season and I hope they get at least one more.  

8.5/10