Early Reader Review: Primer by Jennifer Muro and Thomas Krajewski

Source: From DC Comics in exchange for an honest review. This in no way alters my opinion or review

Primer by Jennifer Muro (co-author), Thomas Krajewski (co-author), Gretel Lusky (Illustrations)
Publisher: DC Comics
Publication Date:  June, 23, 2020

 

Format: Ebook

Rating:








Goodreads Synopsis: 

Primer introduces a brand-new superhero with a colorful array of superpowers to explore.

Ashley Rayburn is an upbeat girl with a decidedly downbeat past. Her father is a known criminal who once used Ashley to help him elude justice, and in his attempt to escape, a life was taken. He now sits in federal prison, but still casts a shadow over Ashley's life. In the meantime, Ashley has bounced from foster home to foster home and represents a real challenge to the social workers who try to help her--not because she's inherently bad, but because trouble always seems to find her.

Ashley's latest set of presumably short-term foster parents are Kitch and Yuka Nolan. Like Ashley, Kitch happens to be an artist. Yuka, on the other hand, is a geneticist working for a very high-level tech company, one that's contracted out to work for the government and the military. And it's Yuka's latest top secret project that has her very concerned. Developed for the military, it's a set of body paints that, when applied to the wearer, grant them a wide range of special powers. Fearful that this invention will be misused, Yuka sneaks the set of paints home, substituting a dummy suitcase with an ordinary set of paints in their place.

From here, signals get crossed. Ashley comes home from school one day with her new friend Luke and, thinking that the Nolans have purchased a surprise gift for her upcoming birthday, finds the set of paints. Being an artist, Ashley naturally assumes these are for her. It isn't long before she realizes that she's stumbled upon something much bigger and a lot more dangerous. Although she uses her newly discovered powers for good, it's not long before the military becomes wise to what happened to their secret weapon. And this spells big trouble not only for Ashley, but for her newfound family and friends as well. 

Review: 
This was such an interesting concept and I really enjoyed this graphic novel. It follows Ashley, a girl in the foster system, as she deals with her issues of trust and fear about having a new family. Ashley gets placed in a home with Yuka and Nolan, a cute couple that just want what is best for Ashley, but Yuka's job is in a lab and there are dangerous things happening there.  

Ashley is a great teen character, she is strong, stubborn and troubled, but able to push through in order to help others. It is a coming of age, as well as a superhero tale and her powers fit with her style. Ashley is a painter and her powers come from paints! it is a very interesting concept overall. 

 I like that this book showcased a non-traditional family as well as diverse characters, and it was great to see a girl being both scared but strong.  Sometimes books choose one or the other and it gets frustrating. 

I think that there is a bit of confusion on what age group this book is for, it is marketed for ages 8-12 and I believe that it is good for that group, however the look and feel of some of the themes might be more YA. Either way this was a great read. I think all ages of readers will enjoy this book and the violence is limited to a lot of punching and knocking into things. 

I am very interested to see where this series goes from here.