This is the first volume of Generation Zero, which I had never heard of before now. I'm so glad I did! What an interesting group!

Premise: Before he died, Keisha's boyfriend told her there was some kind of conspiracy happening in their futuristically-perfect project town. Now, convinced that his death was not an accident, Keisha contacts a teenage superhero group, Generation Zero, to help investigate his murder and the possible conspiracy.

You can tell right away that the authors and illustrators did some great world-building in Keisha's hometown. You have your typical groups in a school, but it's set within this greater framework with futuristic tech that makes sense and doesn't at the same time. At one point in this collection, the characters even explore a mostly perfect heroscape of the town from the cartoonish perspective of perfect Keys girl, Adele.

When Generation Zero shows up, there are a few references to their past, but nothing concrete except that they were primed and used as weapons during their childhoods. There is some allusion to experiments done on the kids, so it's unclear how many of their powers occur naturally, and these powers are all psionic in nature. But I have to admit that my favorite character is not one of the superheroes; it's Keisha's autistic little brother. He has so much potential, and I hope they use his character more in the next volume.

The illustrations were very well done in this one while staying true to expected superhero comic style. For some reason, the way each character held him/herself really stood out to me. It was realistic and represented each character's personality well. As I mentioned, I had never read about the Generation Zero group before, but I think their story started in the Harbingers comics, so I'll be picking that series up as well as the next one of these!

'Generation Zero Vol. 1'by Fred Van Lente with art by Francis Portela was a good start to a series, but I feel like there is something that happened before this issue that I wasn't aware of.

Keisha Sherman lives in the town of Rook, which seems just a little too perfect, with her law enforcement father. When her boyfriend dies in a really suspicious car crash, she starts to learn that her town may be hiding some really strange secrets. The only people she can turn to are a strange group of heroes called Generation Zero. They are a strange group of kids with odd powers, and they start looking in to what is happening. She finds out that someone else seemed to have a crush on her boyfriend, and this turns into a strange trip into that person's psyche.

It feels familiar and yet a little different. The Generation Zero team seems a bit menacing and dangerous, but not to Keisha. I like that edge. I also liked the strange trip into Adele's mind and how it looked like an Archie comic. The art is really good in this book, and I like this start. My review copy didn't have all 5 issues that are in this volume, but I had enough to see that this wasn't too bad.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Valiant Entertainment, Diamond Book Distributors, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

Though the story itself isn't completely clear at times, the artwork is gorgeous and helps fill in the gaps where the text fails to explain what's happening on the page. I'm not entirely sure where the story is going to go, because the focus shifts between character arcs frequently, but the plot really started together as the novel progressed.

An intriguing premise. The team consists of psiot children who were raised as weapons. Generation Zero is the modern day A-Team. "If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire..." Generation Zero. They come to Rook, MI to investigate a death. Rook was basically Flint, MI until all of a sudden it became a high tech mecca for unknown reasons. the series moves WAY too slow. Four issues in, we are no closer in knowing what's going on. And the book ends in the middle of the story. It's like watching Lost. Extremely frustrating. Frustrating enough that I would give the series a pass until it's all collected. Francis Portela's art is fantastic.

Slightly confusing initially but then gradually becomes somewhat clearer. Interesting use of colour and I like the "edginess" of the teens.
Good sustaining of a sinister undercurrent throughout.

A graphic novel with kids who have supernatural powers who investigate certain events. The story starts off pretty well, and at times the dialogue is witty for teens, but the flow of the novel can be honed a little more in the next installment. The artwork is good, but not my usual taste, something about the eyes at times throws me off. However, if you like darker graphic novels and illustrations, this may be right up your alley. For middle-grades and young teens.

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I greatly enjoyed this book, perhaps more than I thought I would. The characters were well thought out (and creepy, where appropriate) and while there wasn't much growth, this is the first volume of a graphic novel series, there was quite a bit of potential. Keisha acts as an excellent guide from the "somewhat normal" future she exists in into the world that the members of Generation Zero have been forced to occupy which exists alongside Keisha's own. I'm looking forward to seeing whether she remains part of the Team long term, especially since she acts as a foil for the others and could help them "normalize" as much as possible (at least to the point where they won't self destruct, hopefully).

Teens will definitely be able to relate to the more mundane characters Keisha interacts with before meeting the Zero's and will see themselves reflected in aspects of the "heroes" as well. Generation Zero shares many similarities with recent Marvel and DC works, such as the new "Ms. Marvel" and "We Are Robin" series. With a diverse cast of characters, an engrossing plot and a borderline disrespect of authority with definite consequences (not just abstract "you're grounded"), Generation Zero is a definite must for libraries with a large teen interest in graphic novels.

A new graphic novel series about a different kind of superhero. These are the superheroes of the future. No one knows who they are, or how to get in contact with them. You can only try, and hope that your case is one they will take on. When you read the blurb about this book, the “superheroes” are actually a military experiment that escaped. But nowhere in this volume is that mentioned. It doesn’t need to be, as I am sure that will come up in later issues, but it does make the book harder to follow. Right now they are solving the case of a murdered high school student. It has cool artwork and an interesting story. I want to continue the series.

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Anyone paying attention to my reviews will recognize that I enjoy stuff put out by Valiant Entertainment. Generation Zero features some characters introduced in the Harbinger Wars story, but it is well removed from that. The focal character is a young woman whose boyfriend dies in car crash. She thinks there is something fishy about his death and reaches out to a fabled group, Generation Zero, that helps people in need. They respond in spectacular fashion and it is unlike anything she expected.

This is the fourth series I've read written by Fred Van Lente. I'm not sure if it is the source material or his writing, but they have been consistently good. I enjoyed the characters a lot. The members of Generation Zero have a nice array of powers, and their interactions among themselves and with others show off their personalities. They felt different from the Renegades, which is another group of young superheroes in the Valiant books. That can be tough to pull off.

The town where everything takes place is great. There are references to some other events, which gives it some life because what happens in the other books clearly has an impact. The town itself has become stinking rich. There's really no other way to describe it. This has affected everything in the town and the art reflects that. It's very well put together in that regard. I wasn't too impressed with the art at first, but one of the later issues takes a huge turn that I thought was wonderful.

It can move a little slow at times and it helps to have some knowledge of what's been happening in the Valiant comics. Yet, it is written really well and has enough oomph that it doesn't really matter.