Ashley has been bouncing from foster family to foster family since her dad went to prison. When she meets her new quirky foster parents things begin to click. He foster dad is an artist like herself and her foster mom is a scientist. When her mom brings her work home, Ashley mistakes it for a present and spills this special paint on her, each color giving her a different power. She secretly becomes Primer and fights crime.

The art was great, reminiscent of a cartoon with bright colors that popped. Ashley was extremely likable, cracking tons of jokes as she fights crime. Kids are going to absolutely love this. I enjoyed it quite a bit too.

I loved this! The characters are great, and I loved the superpower angle in this. Creative and unique. The villain was pretty typical, but this book sets up Ashley's father to be a much bigger villain - his manipulation of her is creepy.

It felt like a stretch that her foster parents were so relaxed in the end about her super hero-ing - and even the military is on board. But the rest of the story was so fun, I didn't really care about this stretch. I will definitely be sticking with this series.

Happy Tuesday! (Also called new book day)! 

I have been keeping busy reading and playing tons and tons of animal crossing (I recently got super into terrforming and now my island is not only a hot mess but I have a million ideas that all take hours)! I am also slowly getting back into watching some television shows (I kind of stopped watching stuff for a little bit there) but I am currently enjoying season two of Good Girls and really excited to pick up season two of the Politician. Something else I have been loving lately is DC comics, I started reading these a little while back (I can not remember my first one but I think it was Batgirl, which I thoroughly enjoyed)! These are graphic novels I can read through in a sitting and I love grabbing a cup of hot chocolate or hot tea and reading one or two of these! Today's read is DC's latest comic, called Primer (and this one is definitely one of my top two favorites I have read of theirs so far).


SPOILERS AHEAD


Ashley is going through a rough time in her life. She is living in a group home and interviewing with families to try to be adopted while her notorious crime father is in prison. One day a couple comes to the group home to meet her for an interview to possibly foster/adopt her. Ashley is hesitant as always however, the meeting goes great and she hits it off with them! Ashley is soon moving in with them and things are going okay until she overhears the wife saying something that sounds like she regrets having Ashley move in. One day Ashley is left home alone and is able to explore the home, she comes upon a brief case and opens it up to find tons of paints. She begins to mess with the paints (thinking they might be a birthday gift for her) and soon realizes these are much more than just paint. Each paint gives you a super power! Now Ashley can be an amazing superhero and change up the powers she has anytime, but where did these paints come from? And what about that comment that Ashley overheard?


This is one of my favorite DC comics, maybe ever (I am still on my DC comics reading journey). I loved Ashley and her new family so much! They all have these individual personalities that mess so well and I loved seeing this family come together (my favorite character might be the husband but its hard to pick). Additionally, I loved the paints, I thought this was a cool mechanic and I loved all the combinations she could make (the list of what all the paints do in the graphic novel was also super cool as well). The artwork in this graphic novel definitely made it come alive and I found myself staring at a lot of the pages/panels and looking over them again and again. They were bright and brilliant! I would love to see more graphic novels with Primer in the very near future!


Goodreads Rating: 5 Stars

I received an electronic ARC from DC Entertainment through NetGalley.
The newest superhero is thirteen year old Ashley. She has a surprisingly upbeat look on life considering her history. Her dad is in prison and emphasizes how they're the same on the rare occasions he connects with her. She's had difficulties in foster homes and is pretty much on her last option. Her foster parents want her and want this to work. Her foster mom works at a top secret lab and steals the latest invention - paints that give people superpowers. Ashley and her new friend snoop and find them. She tries them out and saves the world from a rogue military member.
Vividly colored illustrations support the text and pull the reader in to the story. Muro and Krajewski reveal more about their characters throughout the book so readers have time to think and process as they read.

A great take on a superhero origin story. Ashley is a fun character that you can root for and the coloring is wonderful in the book.

This was a fun comic aimed toward the middle grade age group. I love the concept of receiving various superpowers through specialized paint. Also, Primer is a great superhero name! I love the art style of the comic. The colorful artwork lends itself well to the story line. The main character, Ashley, comes across a little older than the 12-13 age she's supposed to be, but most readers won't mind. I like that this comic also tackles foster care and found families, making the right decisions, and staying true to yourself. These themes work great for the target audience but aren't overbearing.

The end left me wanting to know what happens next so I look forward to future volumes about Primer!

Art by Gretel Lusky

Ashley is a foster kid who has bounced around houses because she hasn't quite found the family for her, and it could also be because she likes to sneak out in the middle of the night to create graffiti art masterpieces. Then, she meets Yuka and Kitch Nolan, a couple who might just be the perfect fit for Ashley. Yuka is a research scientist who is also a huge football fan, like Ashley, and Kitch is an artist who wants to inspire Ashley to express herself in legal ways. One day, Ashley finds the products of Yuka's experiments - body paints that imbue the wearer with super powers! Of course she has to experiment with them and see what wonderful combinations she can make! But the military want their investment back, and they send a ruthless soldier after the paints. Ashley is put to the test, emotionally and superhero-ly.

Ashley is a great lead character, and I sincerely wish all foster children would find a family as perfect for them as the Nolans are for Ashley. Ashley's experimentation with the body paints is fascinating, and there are so many combinations to try that no action sequence is ever the same. This story has a ton of funny moments, especially with the banter between Kitch and Ashley because they have nearly the same humor style. The use of color is beautiful throughout the book, and not just when the art from Ashley is involved (although her graffiti works are dazzling!).

DC rates this as a "graphic novel for kids". The back cover description says Ashley is 16, but within the story, she is in middle school. While this isn't part of the DC Zoom line, it probably should be, because this is a perfect middle grade story. There is some violence during the fight scenes, and there is implied murder, but no blood is show, and characters are more or less incapacitated instead of show bloody or bruised. Overall, this is a really enjoyable read that will have great readership amongst readers looking for a strong, female super hero

Sara's Rating: 10/10
Suitability Level: Grades 3-8

Read more graphic novel reviews at www.graphiclibrary.org.

This was amazing--but much too short! (Though it's clear from the ending that there are more adventures in store for Primer.)

Ashley's father is in prison and she has found herself in and out of foster homes where she just doesn't fit in. When she finds herself placed with quirky Kitch and scientist Yuka, she discovers that foster care might be okay...especially when she discovers Yuka's secret project and ends up with superpowers.

I figured a story about a girl who gets superpowers from body paint would be colorful, but the illustrations here are just gorgeous. There's not much time for a lot of character development, and there are so many things I want to know about Kitch, Yuka, Ashley's dad, and her new friend Luke. Hopefully there really will be more to the series so we can dive deeper into the backstories.

A smorgasbord of color and fun on every page, and I know my students are going to love it.

Posted to Goodreads: Ashley Rayburn has spent most of her life in foster care trying to not get attached to her foster families but her life is about to change. Ashley's latest foster parents are amazing and supportive of her especially her desire to work on her art. When Ashley finds a set of paints in her foster mother's things just days before her birthday Ashley assumes the paints are her birthday gift. However, when Ashley learns that applying the paints to her skin gives her magic powers her whole world begins to change. Can Ashley master her new powers to save herself and the family she is growing to love?

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. Ashely's journey into the world of superheroes was a fun fast-paced adventure that is beautifully illustrated. However, for me, the best part of the book was the relationship Ashley developed with her foster family which was caring in a way that you don't normally see in a tween/teen book.

This was such a cute story about a young superhero discovering her powers and deciding how to help the people around her. She's the daughter of a criminal, and she's just been adopted by a kind couple, though she isn't immediately certain she can trust them. I really liked seeing the way the couple took her in and how she found a home where she could see herself happy one day. And I really enjoyed the way her powers came from paints, how she learned to utilize and combine them. The artwork was amazing and adorable, and this story was just pretty grand <3

I absolutely loved this story! It blew me away at home cute it was. It was a very unique world and set of characters I really loved the female protagonist. Well done DC Comics

My least favorite part of this book was when it ended. I have never been a fan of superheroes until Primer. A confident independent tagger who uses paint to have all the superpowers? Yes! I can't wait to see where her story progress.

This new series from DC Comics ticks all the boxes. Sassy, confident heroine - check. Supportive sidekick -- check. Interesting set of superpowers -- doublecheck. A secure home base -- check. Somewhat dark back story -- check. The presentation does due justice to the narrative. There were chunks of panels in my DRC that were not yet inked in, but less than half. I am intrigued by this new superhero and the use of body paint (only three at a time) which give Primer thousands of different combinations for fighting evil. Then there is her incarcerated father lurking in the background. Dun, dun, dun. Looking forward to the next installment!

Thank you to DC Comics and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and DC Comics for sending me an advanced copy of Primer, so that I could share my review with you!

Ashley Rayburn has had a rough go at life so far, but she’s not planning on letting that get her down. After her father is sent to prison, she is left bouncing from foster home to foster home, never finding a place where she truly fits. She never goes looking for trouble, it just seems to find her wherever she goes, which has cost her more than a few potential homes. Her latest set of foster parents, Kitch and Yuca Nolan, seem to be willing to put in the effort to really get to know her, and Ashley hopes she might just have a chance to find a new family. Kitch’s talent for art immediately connects with Ashley, though she struggles to relate to Yuca, and her top-secret science work. When she stumbles upon a set of cutting edge body paints, engineered by Yuca to give the wearer superpowers, Ashley can hardly contain her excitement! But when it comes to superpowers, you rarely get what you’re expecting and unforeseen dangers wait at every turn!

You can get your copy of Primer on June 23rd from DC Comics!

Given that Primer is a new addition to the DC Comics universe, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this book, but I was absolutely delighted by what I read! Ashley is an extremely likable character, whose superpowers are both original and fun! Jennifer Muro and Thomas Krajewski absolutely charmed me with Ashley’s spunk and style! This book simply wouldn’t have been as fantastic without the gorgeous and colorful illustrations of Gretel Lusky. The story revolves around color and art, meshing together in a way only the very best graphic novels can accomplish!

My Recommendation-
This book would be a perfect fit for readers of any age, especially those who love triumphant stories full of exuberance! Regardless of whether or not you typically read superhero stories, Primer is certain to capture your imagination!

This is a fun story, and kept me interested all the way through. Ashley is in foster care, and has been brought into just one more foster family, but they seem to click, and then she finds some cool paints, that turn out to be more than paints, and she gains superpowers from them.

But, in the back of my mind, I think this diminishes how foster care really works. That it would be so easy to fit into this new family, and that Ashley would not have more problems.

But, if you just read it on the surface, it is fun, so don't try to think too hard about this.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

Where street art meets superheroing!

** Content warning for child abuse. **

Twelve-year-old Ashley has had a pretty crappy life. Thrown into the foster system after her abusive, career criminal father was finally caught, she’s been shuffled through five foster families in two years. So you can understand her skepticism when she’s introduced to newbie foster parents Kitch and Yuka Nolan.

They quickly hit it off, though: Ashley and Yuka share a love of football (go Knights!), and Kitch is an art teacher at a community college, which dovetails nicely with Ashley’s penchant for illicit nighttime street art. Before you can say Bansky, Ashley has a second family, a new friend (Luke, a classmate at Angelou Middle School – nice! – who’s seriously into wigs), and a mentor who loves art as much as she does.


But things quickly go sideways when Yuka brings her work home … literally and covertly. A geneticist at Zecromax Labs who holds multiple degrees (again, nice!), Yuka was involved in the development of body paint that interacts with human DNA to grant its wearer superpowers. Part of a top secret government program called Project Warpaint, Yuka’s having a crisis of conscience over how the army will (mis-)use this technology – so she deletes the research and steals the paints, replacing them with fakes.


Being a nosy almost-teenager, Ashley quickly discovers Yuka’s secret cache – and transforms into the superhero Primer (with a little costuming help from Luke). But the army is keen to get its weapon back, and Yuka and Ashley’s good intentions have put them in the crosshairs of a rogue agent called Strack. It’s up to Primer to protect her found family – but is this so-called “bad seed” up to the task? (Spoiler alert: Yes. Yes, she is. She is also adorable and sweet and almost makes me want to have kids of my own. Okay not really but you get my gist.)

PRIMER is a superhero story with heart and gumption and every gorram color in the rainbow. The storyline is maybe a little predictable, but delightful as heck. I love Ashley and Kitch and Yuka and Luke, and their relationships with one another.

The art – vibrant, arresting, and bursting with color – is really what takes PRIMER to the next level. Like, it’s jaw-dropping. Ashley, short and squat and oh-so-sure of herself, is crazy adorable, and her found family is pretty captivating too.

So many of Muro and Krajewski’s choices are inspired, from the limitless superhero combinations granted by the paints, right down to Luke’s passion and the namesake of his middle school. So much love all around.

I really hope this is the beginning of a new series at DC; I’m gonna be disappointed if we don’t get to see more of Ashley and her posse.

That said, don’t listen to Kitch, vegan lasagna is heckin’ delicious, okay.

This was a great read. The prose, dialogue and cover had me at hello. I loved this story. My attention was held the entire time. I flew through the story in one sitting. The character arc was very well done. I highly recommend this one.

I liked the strong characters all around in this book! (From the main character to the friend to the foster parents- thumbs up in regards to likability for all!) I love the concept of paints that encompass different superpowers that can be combined in a variety of ways instead of just a superhero who has their specific set of fixed powers. I like that Primer has to decide which combination of powers will best solve the problem at hand. I thought this book was a perfect little introduction into the characters and the back story of Primer’s origin. I think it is one that would lend itself well to a series of adventures and I hope there will be more! I also loved the artwork and how colorful it was. I can’t wait to read a fully finished copy to admire the artwork even further!

What an awesome start to a new superhero series! What first grabbed me was simply the colors on the cover. I guess I'm a pushover for rainbows. But I also loved how strong the girl looked and I wasn't disappointed.

Ashley is a 13 year old kid who has had a rough life. Her father is in prison and she has been bounced around from foster home to foster home. She has a bit of an attitude and needs people around her that can keep up with her. Fortunately, a very cool couple takes her in. I love the father, Kitch, who takes all of Ashley's shenanigans and jokes right back with her. He is obviously smart enough to take her on, which is a lot of what she was looking for. Turns out that foster mom Yuka is a scientist working on a project that she is not so sure of. When Ashley accidentally finds her project and thinks it is a birthday present, she gives herself temporary super powers based on the color of the body paints she puts on herself. Of course, someone else wants those paints and it is a question of good vs evil. A great addition to the superhero world leaving one of my daughters clamoring for more.

This is a beautiful and engaging graphic novel. It’s 136 pages, so it’s a quick read and it leaves off on a cliff hanger. Ashley has been from foster family to foster family, and finally she has found a good match. They are kind and supportive. Until Ashley finds warpaints that by being applied to the body give you superpowers. Great concept!