This was super cute. The artwork is amazing, the superhero concept is unique, and I found the characters very likable. I would totally read more about Ashley and her life as Primer. It would be nice to see her friend group grow and we need more Kitch!

I received an ARC through NetGalley from DC Comics. Primer is a cute middle grade superhero graphic novel. The back cover of the ARC lists the main character as 16, but the text describes her as 12 going on 13 and I hope that’s true because this reads young and is perfect for the 10-14 age level. Ashley is in foster care and a new couple has taken her in. Kitch is the cool, artistic dad and Yuka is a scientist who makes the mistake of bringing some super hero abilities home from work. Soon Ashley becomes Primer and the military wants their superhero abilities back and they are out for blood. The art in this is fantastic and the story flows really well with fun characterizations. I found the story too sweet and easy for a story about a foster kid on her 5th family, but it’s good for a tween audience. A perfect intro to superheroes.

Ashley has had five foster families in the last two years. She just can't seem to find a family that fits.
The Nolans haven't been able to have children of their own and decide to foster. In their first interview, Ashley gets along with them and decides to give them a shot.

Things are going pretty well for Ashley in her new home and new school when she finds a suitcase full of body paints. Thinking they may be her birthday present she smears some on, quickly discovering that these aren't ordinary paints, but instead enhanced to give the wearer superpowers! She takes advantage of her discovery, but is quickly persued by the government group who wants their weapon returned.

First, and foremost, the art. Holy wow! Gretel Lusky is my new hero- the work in this novel is beyond beautiful and I can't wait to see the final book with all of the color complete. It is just stunning.

The story is wonderful as well. I love Ashley's spirit and the connection she makes with her new foster parents. Her internal struggle with who her dad is and how that reflects in who she will become is so important for readers to see. I will absolutely be purchasing this for my library and recommending it to students!

What a fresh new wonderful superhero! I love Ashley as a character, I love her story and her personality and her design! I love her family and her friend! I cannot stop thinking about this story. I love how original this idea was and how Ashley tests her powers. Honestly everything here was just wonderful and refreshing and I highly recommend this beautiful graphic novel,

This is a great story that is suitable for a wide range of ages. As an adult I enjoyed it immensely, both the story and the artwork is great (with a color palette that fits the concept of the story). From a storytelling perspective it is well fleshed out, the potential plot holes I came up with as I read were actually addressed in the story later on. There was plenty of character development included with the normal action of a superhero comic. The fact that the main character is a young girl that is part of the foster system gives her a background with a fair amount of uniqueness from the normal background of a fledgling superhero. The idea that her powers come from a variety of paints gives a lot of versatility to the power set she can wield, while a built in limitation keeps her from becoming all powerful.

All in all this was a great read and I hope that there will be a second volume in the future.

I absolutely loved this book. The concept and the art work blended to create an interesting and inspiring world. The characters felt genuine like friends you wanted to have, parents you wanted to keep, and enemies you wanted to beat the snot out of.

Ashley was a great lead! She walked that line of being a rebel and a good girl with a strong moral compass. I can totally see her hanging out with the Teen Titans!!! Great read for really all ages.

There's a new superhero in town! Meet Primer, a bold and feisty 13-year-old kid who discovers a set of body paints that gives its wearers different powers! The paints were developed for use by the government and now they will stop at nothing to get them back! Follow the adventures of DC's brand new champion, Primer. Graphic novel fans will love charming Ashley and her backstory as a foster kid in the fringes waiting to be accepted by a new family. Though I think some scenes needed a little more fleshing out, there were a lot I liked about the book: artwork is gorgeous, the diverse characters, and the humor! Definitely a great read for elementary and middle schoolers.

Super fun middle grade graphic novel that will appeal to a lot of readers. Ashley is a twelve year old who is in the foster system; at first she seems unlikeable but we quickly discover that she is actually a charming and funny girl who has had a rough life. When staying in her new foster parents' home, she finds a briefcase of paints that give her superpowers. While she is learning to adapt to her new family and school, she also has to figure out how to be the town superhero. This is a clever story that has plenty of adventure and heart. I will definitely be recommending this to the tweens in my life when it is published this summer. Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy!

Primer was a fun graphic novel that introduces a brand new super hero to the DC world. Ashley is a down on her luck teenager with a mischievous spirit and an upbeat attitude getting a new home with a new foster family and a new best friend. Things are looking up for our plucky heroine when she comes across body paints that imbue her with special powers that she decides to take for a spin. Unfortunately doing so draws a target to her new family and Ashley has to make some tough choices when it turns out those paints are part of a secret government project that someone wants reclaimed, no matter the cost.
***
Ashley/Primer is a fun addition to the DC world. Her origin story is simple enough and she’s definitely a big hearted character that I found easily lovable and enjoyable. I hope she is brought more into the DC fold and we get the chance to see more of her in the future.
***
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I was able to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Primer was a wonderful new middle school DC graphic novel story. It read like an introduction to the character with a lot of origin story material rather than action, so I'm hoping for more Primer graphic novels to follow.

Her dad's in jail and Ashley has been in and out of foster care. Her newest home seems okay but Ashley isn't so sure about the lady of the house. When she accidentally finds a suitcase of mysterious paints in her new mom's closet things get really interesting. The paints give her superpowers. But there is a soldier who was supposed to have the paints as part of a military experiment and he is not happy. Can Ashley defeat the soldier and save her new family?
I really liked this - bright and colorful, girl superhero with really cool powers.

This book really brings out what it is like to be a kid in foster care. However, it also shows how creative the protagonist, Ashley, aka Primer can be. It is modern in the setting, and time period, along with being realistic. Ashley struggles to fit in and it seems her new foster family are a match she has needed. Students who love action, suspense, and realism will enjoy this book.

E ARC provided by Netgalley



Ashley Rayburn has had a difficult time. Her father is a hardened criminal who is in jail for a crime Ashley helped him commit, and she is jaded by the foster care system. Eventually, she gets taken in by Kitch and Yuka Nolan, a young couple who can't have children of their own. Kitch is an artist like Ashley, and an overgrown child/hipster who matches Ashley's absurd humor. Yuka is more reserved, and works as a research scientist on a project that might not be 100% well intentioned. Ashley manages to make a friend at school-- Luke, who wan to grow up to be a hairdresser and is glad to go along with Ashley's wild schemes. When Ashley breaks into Yuka's closet and finds her top secret briefcase, she finds out that the body paint Yuka has developed can give the wearer super powers, but only as long as no more than three paints are used. Ashley uses the variety of paints to save an airplane and do other super hero like feats, one of which brings her to Yuka's attention. Yuka is angry, but still cares about Ashley (who uses the name "Primer" when she has her powers), but the evil Strack wants the paints for himself. Will Ashley be able to withstand his attacks, save the Nolan's, and continue with her work as Primer?
Strengths: As far as I can tell, this is a new super hero, aimed specifically at middle grade readers. The full color graphic novel is similar to Larson's Goldie Vance and will be popular with students who like comic books and are big fans of art. This would be one to hand to my students who draw all over themselves with marker.
Weaknesses: Ashley's misbehaviors are portrayed as sort of cute. While I am willing to cut her some slack because of her unpleasant upbringing, I was still a little disappointed that she took advantage of Yuka.
What I really think: This is available for the very reasonable price of $8.79 in paperback from Follett, so I may see if this comes out in a prebind, since the paperback would last about two weeks. My students aren't huge DC fans, but the colorful artwork and adventurous story will appeal to some of them.

The characters in this book reminded me of Steven Universe. They were a little haphazard, figured stuff out by trial and error, and were endearing in a wat lumpy outcasts often are.

I can't wait to get this on my self! I'll definitely need to re-read once I have the finished book in my hands, because the finished art is gorgeous and the ARC is sadly about 1/3 uncolored art, though that barely detracted from the story (at least once it was a bit of a detraction, since the eponymous superhero is powered by multi-colored paints...). I am in love with what DC Comics is doing with their middle grade graphic novels, and Primer is no exception! In general, I'm completely over origin stories, but this being an origin story makes sense, as Primer is a brand-new superhero. Frankly, she's so much fun, I hope we get way more of her! As soon as I read the finished book, I'm handing this to our Outreach Manager to take to the middle schools because the kids are going to go crazy over this.

I loved the art style in this! It was bright and fun and super eye-catching. The plot was engaging and unique, just something so different from any other juvie graphic novel I've seen before. Kids are really gonna love it!

This superhero graphic novel is perfect for tween readers. Ashley has had trouble with foster homes. She is a street artist has to outrun the criminal past of her dad who is in prison. Once she finally finds a family who loves her, she stumbles across a secret project involving paints that give people superpowers. With her new abilities, she becomes Primer. I loved this origin and loved the color and fast paced story. I look forward to seeing more from this character.

This book was received as an ARC from DC Entertainment - DC Comics in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I was smiling from ear to ear from reading this book that I could not stop reading. The concept was genius and the plot was so intoxicatingly exciting that a lot of our young readers will be looking to read this book. Ashley is struggling to fit in with her new family and new life but remain upbeat during the process. One day she comes home from school knowing that her mother Yuka works for a top secret agency and her latest project is a set of body paints for the military that when applied, the person will be granted special powers. Yuka fears that these paints will be misused so she sneaks them home and replaces them with regular paint at the lab. Ashley finds these paints and chaos erupts. Now Ashley has become public enemy number one and her new parents and friends is in jeopardy. Now with these new powers and the military finding out there secret weapon has been compromised, Ashley must do whatever it takes to save her family and friends. This was such a creative spark to the DC Universe. I know our readers will love this book and will be talking about it.

We will consider adding this title to our JGraphic Novel collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

As an artist, I was on board with this comic right from the cover, also our heroine looks ready to kick some butt! Ashley is a teen in the system after her criminal father goes to prison, but not before a life was taken leaving Ashley dealing with the trauma. Thankfully, Ashley is placed with a loving set of foster parents who welcome her into their home. Although, Ashley is unsure about them, she eventually begins to love them. If all of that wasn't enough for any teen NOW she has accidentally given herself superpowers! With the help of her best friend and her foster parents, Ashley will learn more about her powers, try to stop an evil corporation, and still try to get her homework done. I loved it! I hope there will be more to come!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Primer is everything I wanted in a new superhero!

Almost 13, Ashley has been in foster care since her father was arrested and put in prison, and she has been labeled trouble ever since. Even from behind bars her father haunts and seems to control her happiness.
A talented artist and football fan, Ashley finds a suitcase full of strange body paints, she is certain that they are a gift for her upcoming birthday and tries one out. And that's where things start to get interesting because these paints aren't ordinary paints: they grant the wearer superpowers!

Ashley takes up the mantle of Primer, a superhero whose powers are ever changing based on what colors she wears on her skin. However, it's not all fun and games; turns out that the paints were smuggled, having initially been created as a weapon. And now the military will do anything to get them back--and take down this girl calling herself Primer.

The sub-characters in this book are equally as great as Ashley! The art is fantastic, and I can't wait to see where Ashley/Primer's journey takes her in future!