Comic Review: Rainbow Brite issue #1 by Jeremy Whitley (Dynamite Entertainment)

RAINBOW BRITE #1

10/3/2018
Writer: Jeremy Whitley
Art: Brittney Williams
Genre: All-Ages Adventure, Media Tie-In
Dynamite Entertainment

SKU: C72513027348201011
Rating: All Ages

Format: Comic Book
Page Count: 32 PagesPrice: $3.99

Cover A: Paulina Ganucheau
UPC: 725130273482 01011
Cover B: Tony Fleecs
UPC: 725130273482 01021
Cover C: "Classic" Cover
UPC: 725130273482 01031

Dynamite-amazon

The adventure begins for children and adults alike, as the classic character Rainbow Brite comes to comics and brings a little color to your life!

Wisp and Willow are best friends who live in a small town. They are inseparable, until one night Wisp discovers something is stealing the color from the world! To escape their grasp, Wisp must use her wits and the help of a new friend...from somewhere else! Then the adventure begins!

Follow along with writer Jeremy Whitley (My Little Pony, Unstoppable Wasp) and artist Brittney Williams (Patsy Walker, A.K.A. Hellcat!, Goldie Vance) as we find out how this seemingly normal girl becomes Rainbow Brite and how it changes Wisp, Willow, and their world!

Rainbow Brite was a bit after my time. I never watched the show but I knew who she was, everyone did. And there is always at least one person cosplaying her at Comicons. Then I found out one of my favorite comic writers, Jeremy Whitley, was going to be involved in bringing Rainbow Brite to comics, I was onboard.

The comic series will begin with Rainbow Brite's origin story and giving the reader plenty of world building and character development. The original cartoon didn't include any of that. So Jeremy had creative license to invent a modern day Rainbow Brite. And if there was ever a character meant for the magical girl genre it's Rainbow Brite.

In issue #1 you meet Wisp and her best friend Willow. They are LARPers (live action role players)! We meet Willow's supportive parents and get a peek into Wisp's home. It looks like she is being raised by just her mom. Wisp sees some color stealing monsters and doesn't hesitate (she might be a fight first, talk later kind of girl) to go after them. She meets Twinkle and life gets weird for Wisp.

The art bold and bright with relatively simple line art. Very kid friendly. This is an all-ages comic and perfect for elementary kids. Jeremy Whitely writes many comics for young girls. His characters are smart, funny, and have an excellent representation of sexualities, genders, and POCs (people of color). A must have in school libraries...I'm just saying...

4 "color-stealing" Sheep

SharonS

About the Author:
website-FB-twitter
He is the writer/co-creator of the original series “Princeless", “The Order of Dagonet", and “Illegal".  He has also done work for hire for companies such as IDW Publishing on the properties “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic", “My Little Pony: Friends Forever" and “Courage the Cowardly Dog"."

Princeless" has been nominated for two Eisners, including “Best Series for Ages 8-10" and “Best Single Issue (Vol 1 Issue 3)".

“Princeless" has also won three Glyph Awards for representation in comics including “Best Story", “Best Female Character" and “Best Writer" for Jeremy’s work on the book.  This series was also nominated for “Best Cover" and “Best Artist" both for work by M. Goodwin.

Interview: Comic Writer Jeremy Whitley - Rainbow Brite #1 from Dynamite Entertainment

Give a big sheep welcome to one of my favorite comic writers. Jeremy Whitley created Princeless and Raven: Pirate Princess. Comics with strong young female characters as well as LGBT and POC representation. These are the comics your kids deserve! 

This October Jeremy has a couple of awesome projects coming. Including Rainbow Brite! That's right, he is bringing her back. But what will she be like this time around? Check out what Jeremy has to say about it. 

Sharon: How did you get involved with writing Rainbow Brite?

Jeremy: Kevin Ketner, who is the editor on Rainbow Brite, had worked with me before at Dynamite and we had gotten along really well and wanted to work together again. Hallmark was looking for pitches from people on what they would like to do on Rainbow Brite and Kevin asked if I would be interested in submitting one. Hallmark went through all of the options they had and liked mine the best, so we went for it.

Sharon: Is this a reboot of the series?

Jeremy: Sort of. I mean, it’s not working on the same continuity as the original series, but we are trying to keep as many of the elements of the original series as we can while modernizing the way it’s told. The original was very episodic, largely because it functioned on the needs of a line of toys. We have no such restrictions and therefore are free to tell the story we want to tell in the way we want to tell it. We can introduce pieces of the world a little bit at a time and focus on building a fully realized world and mythology around Rainbow Brite.

Sharon: Since Rainbow Brite is such an iconic character were you given any creative freedom for the comic or were you and the artist given strict guidelines?

Jeremy: For the most part we have been given a lot of room to make this the kind of story we want to make. Hallmark has particular messages and ideals that they want to see Rainbow Brite maintain, but they’re pretty open to recontextualizing that stuff in a way that makes sense. As well known as Rainbow Brite is, there’s actually relatively little canon. The original series only had 13 issues and a made for tv movie. Hallmark definitely has things they don’t want to compromise on, but for the most part, those aren’t things I’m looking to change.

Sharon: How does your Rainbow Brite differ from the original 80s?

Jeremy: I think the biggest difference is that the version from the 80s sort of shows up in the first issue fully formed. There’s not much discussion about who she is or where she comes from, she’s just here to save the day. Our story is going to focus a lot more on Rainbow Brite as a character. We’re going to see her before she’s Rainbow Brite and learn who she was and how she became the hero we know and love. As she grows, she’s also going to have a more varied power set than she did in the original, which we’ll explore the reasons for as we go.

Sharon: Why were these changes made?

Jeremy: The biggest reason we’re making changes is to expand on and explore the world more. The cartoon had a very 80’s cartoon way of saying “here’s the world, this is how it is,” but this is a world that our heroine isn’t from and is just getting to explore alongside the reader, so we want to give her a chance to experiment and learn new things. Plus, when your protagonist doesn’t roll into the story with all of the power, it gives them a little more room to grow. I think characters that learn and grow are important for young readers to see. Nobody is just born a superhero.

Sharon: What aspects of the character did you keep?

Jeremy: The biggest thing is that we wanted to keep her a character who, like Wonder Woman or Moana, is not just a warrior, but is a hero who values traditionally female values. Rainbow Brite is about the powers of kindness, honesty, empathy – not just punching and shooting. 

The other big aspect that’s part of her original character, but has actually become a much bigger thing since the original Rainbow Brite is that she is a magical girl. She’s originally a normal girl named Wisp with an extraordinary capability for compassion. She transforms into Rainbow Brite and if our story, we’re going to play more with her transitioning back and forth.

Sharon: What other projects do you coming up?

Jeremy: Well, my Marvel series “The Unstoppable Wasp” is making its triumphant return this October with a new #1 issue.

In addition to that, my creator-owned series “Princeless” is coming back with volume 7 starting in October as well. “Raven: Pirate Princess,” which started off as a spinoff of Princeless and has since become very much its own thing, is wrapping up year 2 with the upcoming 12th and 13th issues to cap that year off. We’ve already started working on year 3.

On top of that, we have a brand new My Little Pony mini-series coming out from IDW in October called “Nightmare Knights” and is going to be a ton of fun.

There are a few more things coming late this year and early next year, but nothing we can talk about just yet.

Sharon: Are you going to be at any cons this year?

Jeremy: Yes! I’ll be at Dragon Con at the beginning of September, SPX in mid-September, New York Comic Con at the beginning of October, and Bull City Comic Con here in North Carolina at the beginning of October.

RAINBOW BRITE #1

10/3/2018
Writer: Jeremy Whitley
Art: Brittney Williams
Genre: All-Ages Adventure, Media Tie-In
Dynamite Entertainment

SKU: C72513027348201011
Rating: All Ages

Format: Comic Book
Page Count: 32 PagesPrice: $3.99

Cover A: Paulina Ganucheau
UPC: 725130273482 01011
Cover B: Tony Fleecs
UPC: 725130273482 01021
Cover C: "Classic" Cover
UPC: 725130273482 01031

Pre-order

The adventure begins for children and adults alike, as the classic character Rainbow Brite comes to comics and brings a little color to your life!

Wisp and Willow are best friends who live in a small town. They are inseparable, until one night Wisp discovers something is stealing the color from the world! To escape their grasp, Wisp must use her wits and the help of a new friend...from somewhere else! Then the adventure begins!

Follow along with writer Jeremy Whitley (My Little Pony, Unstoppable Wasp) and artist Brittney Williams (Patsy Walker, A.K.A. Hellcat!, Goldie Vance) as we find out how this seemingly normal girl becomes Rainbow Brite and how it changes Wisp, Willow, and their world!

About the Author:
website-FB-twitter
He is the writer/co-creator of the original series “Princeless", “The Order of Dagonet", and “Illegal".  He has also done work for hire for companies such as IDW Publishing on the properties “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic", “My Little Pony: Friends Forever" and “Courage the Cowardly Dog"."

Princeless" has been nominated for two Eisners, including “Best Series for Ages 8-10" and “Best Single Issue (Vol 1 Issue 3)".


“Princeless" has also won three Glyph Awards for representation in comics including “Best Story", “Best Female Character" and “Best Writer" for Jeremy’s work on the book.  This series was also nominated for “Best Cover" and “Best Artist" both for work by M. Goodwin.

Selah's Manic Manga Reviews: 20th Century Boys by Naoki Urasawa

Naoki Urasawa's 20th Century Boys, Vol. 1: Friends

by Naoki Urasawa 

February 17, 2009
216 pages
Publisher: VIZ Media LLC; 1 edition

Genres: Mystery, Science Fiction, Thriller

20th Century Boys is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Naoki Urasawa. It was originally serialized in Big Comic Spirits from 1999 to 2006, with the 249 chapters published into 22 tankōbon volumes by Shogakukan.

There are times you just want a really good story that will take you on a wild ride. It helps if it also ends up being really, really well done. Today we’re talking about one of my other favorite series, 20th Centure Boys.

This is another series that is just…like I can’t even cover half of it without explicitly giving parts away. There’s so much to it, I’m kind of in awe of the author. This is what would happen if the Losers club in It met a cult met post-apoc met a lot of really good music. Like I cannot tell you how jealous I am of this.

First thing to note: this series does flashback a lot. Other thing to note: it does it very well, so you just need to hang on.

The basic gist is that Kenji and his friends have formed a club in their secret base, a grass hut that they built in a meadow. They meet there a lot in the summers of 69-70. Like all kids do, they make up adventures about how they’re going to save the world, to the point where they write down their stories in a book called The Book of Prophecy with their own secret symbol.

Fast forward to their thirties, and nothing has gone the way they planned. They all have grown up, some have families, some have great jobs, some have less than stellar jobs, one (Otcho), has gone missing. Kenji, himself has turned his father’s liquor store into a convenience store and is raising his niece, who was suddenly dropped off to him and his mother one night by his sister, who has also disappeared.

And then The Friends spring up. It’s a slow burn, but little by little Kenji starts recognizing things that he and his friends invented in their childhood stories…but The Friends are trying to do them for real to bring about the end of the world. So which one of them is actually The Friend and leader of the cult?

The thing with this series, is it keeps on going. Flash forward again after Kenji and his friends take on the cult, and you get a whole other adventure, this time with his niece Kanna center stage, trying to figure out where her uncle is and what’s going on with the world. And then you keep jumping back and forth to try to figure out how the past has impacted the future.

It sounds confusing – I actually looked the whole plot up on wiki after the first couple volumes because I was on the fence, but I’m so glad I kept going. In the actual series, it’s all explained and it all makes sense. This is really one of those series where you have to just keep going – not that it’s ever bad. It isn’t. You’re just going to feel thrown for a loop a couple times, but then when things come together, it’s amazing.

The Good: I just really love the concept of this. Plus, it never tries to like take the methods The Friends use too seriously. It’s stated numerous times that it’s unbelievable because those are things a kid would think up…because that’s exactly what happened. Would such a tactic play out in real life? Eh, I don’t know about that, but I do think the reactions to things happening are dead on. Just completely dead on. This is probably one of the more accurate looks at a post apocalyptic society that I’ve seen, partially because it’s only really focused on Japan (with some asides in the US, London, the Vatican, and Hong Kong, but those are brief). It also really tries to utilize each member of the cast. At one point I was a little concerned that Otcho was almost too strong of a character because he’s So. Damn. Cool. And I questioned the sanity of taking your main character out of the bulk of the series…but when the lead comes back, it’s in a way that I completely wouldn’t have thought to do. And it’s amazing. I also really like how Kanna is depicted – it’s a version of the teen girl trying to save the world that doesn’t make me want to punch myself in the face. All of the characters get a decent amount of screen time and all get a good amount to do. A lot of side characters come back in deft ways, and it really shows how random, typical people are impacted by events like germ warfare and like an actual giant robot trying to destroy cities. The Friends are suitably creepy and there’s a lot of intrigue trying to figure out who The Friend is and what’s going on with his followers, too. 

I also just really like how music is incorporated into things – especially the title song. As a big T Rex fan, it just made me so happy to hear this in my head at certain sequences. There’s also a great sequence repeated at times (initially while the kids are daydreaming about saving the world) about figures coming in to being thanked by the UN for saving the world and you can just hear this in your head in the background. And I don’t know if it’s subtle genius or accident, but if you pay attention to the first few lines, you’ll know exactly where that sequence goes when it’s not a daydream.

The Bad: The only thing I can really say is at times the pacing feels a little slow, but honestly, I think that’s because there’s a lot going on. If you’re like me and don’t care about spoilers, the synopsis online actually really doesn’t do it justice. Like reading it, you’d think it’s complete whackadoo, but this is a tight, tight series and the pieces make sense once you’re reading them. Some people may not want to invest the time/effort to read this long of a series, but it is completely worth it.

The Ick: Nah, nothing to really speak of. It treats things seriously but there’s no huge on screen violence and there’s no real sex or anything, either.

If you like conspiracy theory and end of the world meets coming of age, this is definitely for you. Seriously, while there are three movies devoted to this, I could see a longer-form version on like Netflix or another platform, easily, as long as it was firmly kept set in Japan and people didn’t try to really mess with it. It’s perfect for something like that.

Note – This series is kind of a misnomer because the full ending is completed with the two volume 21st Century Boys, which I haven’t gotten to read yet. However, those two books more or less explain the why to things and close up loopholes – you do get something of an ending with the main 22 book arc. My review/rating thus far is only on the first 22 books – I’ll probably update once I read the rest.

5 sheep

***

About Selah Janel:

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Selah Janel is a writer who is trying to start doing that again instead of reading manga all the time.