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‘Tomorrow Jones #1’ Review

 

Tomorrow Jones 1All parents have expectations for their kids. Some want their children to grow up to be a doctor or take up the family business, while in Tomorrow Jones’ case, her parents want her to be a superhero. As a second generation superhero who inherited her mother’s powers, it’s not that Tomorrow doesn’t want to go into the heroing business, it’s that she wants to do so on her own terms, instead of wearing a skimpy costume mimicking her mom’s. But, her desires aren’t taken seriously by her parents.

The metaphor of parental expectation works so well in Tomorrow Jones. All she wants is the freedom to be herself, and that’s the one thing no one wants to give her. Tomorrow and her family are well written with believable dialogue that’s passionate and engaging though sometimes a bit silly, because words like “superhero,” “costume,” and “fighting crime” keep popping up in what otherwise sounds like traditional family drama. How these traditional parent/teenager scenes were a little bit different thanks to superpowers was an endless source of amusement for me. Lecturing your kid on the way home in the car? What would you do if she got p—ed off and left the car as it was moving on the highway, instead of just storming off once you arrived home?

Another theme writer Brian Daniel and artist Johan Manandin play with is how female characters are usually treated in superhero comics, such as with their costumes being overly sexualized. Naturally, this doesn’t sit well with the tomboyish Tomorrow. All of her thoughts concerning women’s roles in the superhero community mimic my own, and I can’t wait to see what else the creative team can play with for this angle. That’s not to say Daniel and Manandin don’t have respect for traditional superhero comics; Tomorrow Jones #1 is filled with a lot of little nods and references to comic book heroes, if you take the time to look.

Perhaps the book’s biggest strength is that the characters are all so likable. Tomorrow is extremely relatable as she tries to handle the responsibilities of family, school, and her desire to express herself. Her internal dialogue manages to hammer home the point of her identity struggle while remaining funny and confident enough to avoid self-pity territory. It’s not just Tomorrow either; I love the entire Jones family and the different attitudes they bring to the title.

Tomorrow Jones is exactly the sort of heroine that superhero comics need more of. The first issue is available a variety of ways over at the Tomorrow Jones website, including a preview of the first issue.

 

 

Kristine Chester, Fanbase Press Senior Contributor

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Favorite Comic Book SeriesAtomic Robo Favorite D&D Class:  Wizard Favorite Ice Cream Flavor:  Cookies N' Cream

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