Morning Glories Volume 1

by Nick Spencer

Joe Eisma (Artist)

• Morning Glory Academy is one of the most prestigious prep schools in the
  country... but something sinister and deadly lurks behind its walls. When six
  gifted, but troubled, students arrive, they find themselves trapped and fighting
  for their lives as the secrets of the academy reveal themselves!
• Collects Morning Glories #1-6.

• ISBN10: 1607063077
• ISBN13: 9781607063070
• Publish Date: 1 March 2011
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Image Comics
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 192
• Language: English

Reviews

[leahrosereads]

2.5 stars.

So, when I went to the library on Tuesday to vote, I decided to browse the graphic novels for some quick reads. There were a lot of volume 2 through whatever other number, but not that many volume 1s to pick from. I saw that this had all of the volumes available, so I grabbed the first three.

The writing:

Honestly, not that great. FOR A BETTER FUTURE felt like it was trying a little too hard to be this deep mystery, but all I felt while reading it was dissatisfaction. Had I not grabbed more than one volume of this, I wouldn't have continued to series at all. It didn't feel like it was going to be for me, and I blame the writing and the characters for that.

The characters:

So we have six teenagers all with the same birthdays and with very Breakfast Club-esque personalities. We have the geek (Hunter), the princess (Mary Sue...excuse me, Casey), the goth (Jade), the bad boy (Ike), the jock (Jun), and our slut shaming character (Zoe). They all felt generic and I didn't give a damn about any one of them. I just couldn't connect to them at all.

I know I was supposed to love our heroine, Casey, especially since she guessed quickly that something wasn't right at Morning Glory, while all the other newcomers were these clueless imbeciles, but it just didn't work for me. There wasn't really any foundation for her knowledge or understanding that made sense or was explained. It felt forced so that the reader knew exactly who to root for.

The art:

I really liked the artwork in this graphic novel. I loved the colors, and while I didn't care for the writing all that much, the art did bring the story alive.


Overall, had I not taken out Volumes 1 through 3 of Morning Glories, I wouldn't continue this series. However, I read FOR A BETTER FUTURE so quickly, I decided to move onto Volume 2 before bed.

I'm not sure I would recommend this series, based on the first Volume alone, but I'm currently writing this while reading the third volume, so I'm just going to say that the writing has gotten better, and while I'm still not a fan of the characters, they're growing on me and so is the plot. Would recommend if you don't have anything else to read at the moment.

[kerrydarkeyes]

I really enjoyed the first Morning Glories because it's got that LOST-like feel of mysteries waiting to unfold - but I had to dock it a star for being almost /too/ mysterious to make sense. ;)

[inlibrisveritas]

3.5 Stars

Morning Glories is a graphic novel that starts off with a bang and then keeps you in suspense about what exactly is going on. Think of the show Lost and add some serious horror and dystopian aspects…now you have Morning Glories.

The story revolves around six newly arrived students to the Morning Glory Academy. We get to see first hand how weird the school is and how they don’t really care if they hold up appearances for very long. The group is extremely varied in personality and we are treated to a bit of their background so we can see just how these six function. I loved that each twist was wholly unexpected and I like the mystery of the plot, though I do hope they clue us in on it very soon because I can see this getting confusing fast. The art style is beautiful and crisp which perfect for those gorgeous scenes as well as the scenes that make you wish you could unsee things.

For a graphic novel I picked up on a whim this turned out to be an extremely good choice. It’s fun in a ‘holy crap these people are crazy’ kind of way and I can see the potential for this to be a series I really enjoy.