This adventure was definitely a fun spin on the idea of people suddenly having superpowers and what they do with it but also unpacked some very relevant issues that are prevalent today. In it we follow Quin who can't be hurt, but doesn't really feel like it's of much value in the grand scheme of things. A lot of the internal dialogue Quin has it really good introspection about what constitutes the right thing and how perceptions of what that is can vary. Overall it was a fun take on the superhero trope and I really enjoyed the art style especially. All of the colors were dynamic and I really enjoyed the varying ways panels were put together.

This was an entertaining comic about a young black boy in New Orleans dealing with the tough world around him as it struggles for justice. After a meteor shower he is granted a super lower that helps give him an edge up in the world and the confidence to help his community.

I think many teens will enjoy this comic and find many parts of it relatable and relevant to the real world of today. Complete with bullies, gangs, police violence, conspiracy theorists, and extremists.

On a personal level I wasnt a huge fan of the art, but there were some nice full spreads that were quite nice! This didnt grasp me enough to care to read further in the series but I think it will still do well among teens of today.

Quin is invincible. This is pretty handy as he faces up against the systemic injustice that runs rampant in this community and threatens the lives and futures of everyone he cares about. Who is targeting lower-class New Orleans? The first in what I hope are many thought-provoking comics, Quincredible touches on themes of unrequited love, family bonds, injustice, protests, revolutions, crime, oh, and superheroes. Quin is a lovable, dorky character who really wants to do what's right in a world that can't always decide what "right" even is. I found this to be a thoughtful take on how injustice is perpetuated. I'm planning on keeping a volume in my classroom, and I hope it will inspire young people to think critically about how the world works, why it continues, and what could and should be done to change it.

A genuinely delightful exploration of what it means to be a superhero. I especially adored the clean lines and artwork, and think this is a wonderful "starter" comic for those interested in the genre but intimidated by the big names.

Thank you for the ARC of Quincredible!
This was a quick and engaging read that touched on topics that have only become more relevant in 2020. The art and coloring keep the reader's attention well and the text is easy to read and follow. I wished there was more discussion of the nuance of policing besides Quin and Brittney's conversation about how "not all cops are bad." I saw more nuance from the art rather than the text (page 99 is a standout example of this).
Overall though I will definitely recommend this book to adults and teens.

Quinton is *the Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt theme song starts playing* Unbreakable! It's a miracle! Unbreakable! Quinton is are strong as hell!⁠
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Ok, so after some meteors came down to earth, a bunch of people got superpowers, including a New Orleans native, Quin. The problem is, apart from being unbreakable, Quinton has no other superhero attributes. So instead of becoming Luke Cage, he becomes a punching bag for bullies.⁠
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Everything changes when he makes the decision to change something about his neighborhood and stand up to violence- both to criminals and the police.⁠
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It's such a cool comic book about a superhero who, albeit very heroic, doesn't immediately get skills that can be used in combat. He relies on a team and needs other to accomplish tasks and stop an evil dude trying to bring change the extra radical way--by instigating more crime.⁠
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What I enjoyed most in this graphic novel was the way Quinn and other superheroes had to find a middle way--something between the oppressive police and the criminals--in order to save their community.⁠
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All in all, I definitely recommend this one if you're looking for something light and not very macho.⁠

Quincredible is the first book that I've read in the Catalyst Prime comics universe, and was actually unaware that this was part of a larger world when I read the book, as such, I spent some parts of the book wondering who certain super heroes were, but it was still able to entertain me as a piece of fiction all on its own.

The book follows Quin, a young man living in New Orleans who received incredible powers when a meteor shower hit the already devastated city, granting some people superhuman abilities. Quin is struggling with his life, not sure what to do with the gifts he's been given to not be hurt by anything, not knowing if this means he's meant for bigger things or not, whilst also struggling as a member of the Black community in a city where the government left many of the most needy to survive on their own following a natural disaster.

This is one of the things that immediately jumped out at me about this book that sets it apart from a lot of other super hero books, especially books set in the Marvel or DC universes. This is a world where Hurricane Katrina still hit the city, where communities were devastated and left with little help from the government. It mirrors our world. There were no heroes swooping in to save the day, and minorities were left to pick up the pieces. It felt like it had more of an impact in ways regular super hero comics often fail to.

The book was also notable because of how diverse the cast was. I'm actually struggling to remember any main or important character that wasn't a person of colour; and all of the heroes were from minorities that are often overlooked in comics over white heroes. I'm sure that there will be some who will immediately accuse it of being 'woke' or 'too PC', but fuck that kind of view; in a world full of white heroes it's about time that more Black heroes are given the chance to take the lead and shine.

A lot of the book seems to centre on the struggle of the Black community in the US, and Quin and his family and friends have to worry more about the racism from police, social inequality, and a system designed to keep them down as they do powered villains suddenly turning up and destroying the city.

Whilst I did enjoy the book I feel like I definitely would have gotten more out of it if I'd read more from this universe and knew some of the already established heroes that appeared her, but that's not a criticism that I can really lay at the feet of the book. Instead, I'll say that this was an issue with how I read it, and I'm sure that if I went away and read the books that came before this I'd have enjoyed it more, and that's something that I'm actually going to try to do. I think once I read the books in order I'll get more from this. That being said, it was still an entertaining read, and acted as a good introduction to this new shared universe. It got me up to speed pretty quickly on how these heroes got their powers, and the general state of the universe and the way people feel about this new change in the world.

Quincredible might not be the best place to start reading the Catalyst Prime universe, but it still acts as a good jumping on point, one that introduces the world, the characters, and will leave you wanting to read more of both Quin himself, and the other books available.

This was such a cute graphic novel, and reading it felt like I was watching a Marvel movie. It was written so well, and with beautiful graphics that I was sucked in the moment I opened it up. I also really adored Quin's relationship with his parent's especially his father, it was just so darn beautiful.

This graphic novel is such a brilliant representation of what it means to support a community in need, recognizing that helping the vulnerable begins with equal opportunity, and that the persistent jailing of young, Black kids only contributes to the cycles of oppression. It demonstrates that to put yourself in another’s shoes and examine the world from the perspective of “the bad guy” can lead to an illumination of the way your current “helping” makes you the bad guy to them.

In times like these where many young readers are looking to books to expand their knowledge of how to support the Black Lives Matter movement, this graphic novel is an excellent resource with a lovable main character and a unique, fantastical twist on the topic. Definitely one I would highly recommend.

My Thoughts:
Although Black Panther has been around since 1966 in the Marvel Universe (I believe he first appears in one of the Fantastic Four comics), the movie has brought on a hunger for Black superheroes. Pair that with Spider Man: Miles Morales, and there is an even greater hunger for the superhero as nerd, weakling, average teen. Quincredible fits into this Miles Morales mold. Quin is invincible, but that does not make him incredibly strong. Instead, it makes him into a perpetual punching bag for the bullies. He is in desperate need of a mentor and a coach, but he really also just wants to get the girl and be invisible for as long as he can.

I find Quin to be believable as the weakling, awkward, New Orleans teen who tries to hide his problems from his loving, yet clueless parents. When his mentor, "Glow" shows up not so much as a coach, more like a facilitator, Quin is challenged to find his inner strengths. What he finds, in end scenes that remind me of the shenanigans on the Home Alone movies, is that his strengths really were always in him, and they have nothing to do with the meteor shower "Event" that made certain people into superheroes. That is really the message - your power is in you. You have always had it. This is volume 1 out of 11, so I hope he continues to use his real super powers to save his community.

From the Publishers:
Invulnerability is a pretty useless superpower if you’ve only got a one-hundred-pound frame to back it up. That’s what Quinton West’s life became when he went from “small guy who got beat up” to “small guy who can’t get hurt” after the meteor shower dubbed “The Event” gifted him the power of invulnerability, but no other powers to compliment it.

But there’s more to Quin than meets the eye, and after some encouragement from his new mentor—a local New Orleans–based superhero named Glow—Quin realizes that he can use his quirky hobby of creating Rube Goldberg devices to outsmart the opposition. But being a hero paints a target on your back, and Quin’s got to risk it all to join the ranks of the superheroes he looks up to. It’s a good thing he can take a punch.

This was a really enjoyable graphic novel. Although not a huge fan of the art style, I enjoyed the story overall. Definitely setting the scene for subsequent volumes and I'm really looking forward to those. I like that there were some pretty current issues addressed in here as well, like racism, oppression and more.

Overall, a solid start to what looks like is going to be a good series.

The author Rodney Barnes has a great idea on his hands with this and I truly hope there's more. Quinton West is a good main character who gets superpowers the same day a lot of others get them but the issue is that he doesn't think his powers hold up. If you're a Marvel fan, his powers are very "Luke Cage" like. He is invincible. He can take any sort of punishment with nothing to show for it. I bet he can even stub his toe and go on like nothing even happened. Because let's face it, stubbing your toe is the worst of the worst.

What we have with Quincredible Vol 1 is the start of a very promising series. It does a good job introducing us to Quin but it's also not boring. No long winded origin story where we spend a lot of time with him before his powers then we see a montage of him exploring them. No, by the time the story starts Quin already has his powers, he knows what they are, so we can hit the ground running and I think that was the best way to do it. We still got to know who he was as a person, got to know his powers, but I never once felt bored.

The story was also very topical in today's society. We have it taking place in New Orleans and we have a not so great relationship between the local Black community and the police. We also have a lot of new heroes in the area, all of which are people of color, so the cops are extra angry because they feel threatened by this new wave of crime fighters. We have a local community organizer that serves and a symbol of hope for the people, we have the local criminals hurting the community and in the middle we have Quin.

Quincredible was well written, the art was good, and it was an original idea, which is always great to see when it comes to people with powers. This is a story that features a Black main character and many other important characters who are people of color and best of all, the story is interesting.

My only critique is that I would have liked the whole "Quin coming into his own" part to be teased out a bit more before the first big fight, but that's really it.

Thanks to Net Galley and Oni Press for providing me this free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When I saw Quincredible was written by Rodney Barnes, I instantly put a request to read and review this book. While writing reviews for another site, I was introduced to Barnes via his Image Comics title, Killadelphia (which is very good and I’ll need to write up at some point). While the entry point was the Philadelphia setting, I fell in love with Barnes’s writing. And while Killadelphia is not the typical comic book I read, Quincredible definitely falls more in line with the type that I do.

Quincredible Volume 1 Quest to be the Best collects five chapters (and some extras) over 144 pages in this graphic novel from Oni Press and is set to release in early 2021. The story features Quinton West, your average high school freshman—who is invulnerable. In short, the story follows Quin, a small guy who goes from getting beat up to a small guy who can’t be hurt after “The Event”—a meteor shower that grants him no other powers than invulnerability (and something that I hope gets explored more someday).

Featuring a diverse cast set in New Orleans, Quincredible deals with some very real issues that face that area in the wake of Katrina and “The Event”. Quin dreams of being a superhero, but has a hard time thinking he can actually do anything with his power—sure, he can’t get hurt, but what are the limitations to his invulnerability? Aside from taking a punch, what can he do to help? Don’t forget about all that freshman high school work and pining over his crush.

What I really like about Quin is how relatable he is. And while I can’t speak for his experiences of living through Katrina or growing up Black, I can relate to “awkward, nerdy, teenager”. Whether that was Barnes’s intention or not, I’m not sure, but Quin reminds me very much of a Peter Parker type hero—powers don’t necessarily make his life any easier and he still has his life to worry about. The Peter Parker comparison doesn’t stop with how relatable Quin is, but even with his attitude… when we first see him interact with some bullies, he uses charm and wit to navigate the situation. We see his insecurities when it comes to the girl, Brittany, his powers, and his community.

The strength of this book is how it paints this community. Quin wants to help and is eventually inspired by other enhanced folks, particularly Glow who ends up being a sort of mentor. And when given the opportunity to talk about doing some good and helping stop crime, Quin is sort of the linchpin that connects the other heroes to the community. Yes, there are some people doing bad things, but the system made it so they had no other choice to survive. They’re being used by the ultimate big bad.

Quin’s relationship with his family is incredibly heartwarming. Especially, at least at first, how incredibly normal it is. Most superheroes tend to have parental issues as a focal point in their origin stories, but it’s nearly the opposite here. If I’m being honest, there’s a moment near the end of the book between Quin and his parents that, for me, is the highlight of the book.

If you can’t tell, I’m a big fan of Barnes’s writing. Quincredible feels right at home with Spider-Man, Static Shock, Batman Beyond, and other young superhero stories. The story is grounded in both reality and fantasy and Barnes makes sure our hero fails before being able to rise up and come out on top. If I had to pick one thing to nitpick, it’s that the villain, Alexandre Zelime, isn’t developed enough. His backstory is explored in 2 pages and I would have loved to see maybe another 10 to 15 pages.

Selina Espiritu’s art and Kelly Fitzpatrick’s colors are also top-notch in Quincredible. It stands toe to toe with any modern superhero comic book and then some. The shading is some of the best I’ve seen and the colors popped really well, especially purple! There are only one or two panels, out of the 144-page book, where it seems like characters are in weird positions or awkward angles, but it’s never distracting. I’m excited to dive into more of both Espiritu’s and Fitzpatrick’s work in the future!

Quincredible Volume 1: Quest to be the Best is a wonderful coming of age story about trying to find yourself while dealing with both normal and abnormal stresses that come with being an enhanced high school student. Not only is this a great story for adults, but it should also be on every kid’s bookshelf.

SCORE: 9.6/10

For full transparency: I received a review copy of this work from NetGalley. That said, this is an honest review, and receiving a review copy has not influenced my thoughts and rating of this work.

This book feels like a cross between Misfits and Invincible.
After another natural disaster hits his New Orleans parish Quin finds himself with superpowers. Combating bullies and social injustice he keeps his power a secret until he meets other supes.
You get a good look at the difficulties of waking up with powers but not having the physical capabilities of fighting crime. This is a funny book that feels like it would fit right at home with Marvel.

I really wanted to love this, but sadly it wasn't my cup of tea. While Quin was an inspiring superhero, I found the content to be pretty predictable.

A fun comic book about a boy who's trying to fit into and help his community. For all that superhero stories are an escape from reality, this one doesn't shy away from shaping art through reality.

Quincredible breaks quite a few superhero tropes and I love it. Quin doesn't have to stumble through everything alone because he has a gang of other superheroes to help him. He doesn't seed lies and feel guilty for it because his parents find out fast when he decides to help the community. To be fair, there are still some clichés though.

The one thing I have to say is that I don't quite get the actions of the bad guy, though I understand the motivations. Nevertheless, it was still a good read.

We need more stories like this, where characters and perspectives are diverse.

4 stars for this book!

This is a story about a black super hero who did not really know that he had super powers. His powers were kinda normal looking whereby he does not need to be suited up to get the extra feels of being a hero. There were some parts in the graphic novel which he did it.

I just wished there was more development to his past and make his parents a bit older as the illustrations showed like they were his cousins or siblings which was shocking to me. Creating a superhero world is tough no doubt for the first attempt this is great.

Overall this is a good book too read if you are under a reading slump!

Thank you so much @netgallery for the arc!

Quincredible Volume 1 is such an uplifting and interesting story with a black kid as the main character, superheroes of color, and an overall diverse cast of characters. This is not your typical superhero story where it is bad versus good and the bad guys are bad and the good guys are good (though the good guys are pretty good). It's a graphic novel that speaks to human nature and the range that it entails.

Teenage boy Quin (aka Quincredible) is just a boy in New Orleans trying to live his life and find his place in it. But besides his incredible smarts and great personality, he is anything but normal...he is indestructible. Or as far as he can discern he cannot be hurt (that doesn't keep people from trying though). He has a good heart and he just wants to help his community and the people in it heal from Katrina and other disasters that keep happening to it.

He decides to use his power to help the community. But he soon learns that helping his community isn't just about putting the bad guys (who aren't really bad at all just people who are hurt and frustrated) behind bars. Doing this just continues the negative cycle. Instead, he reaches out to the other supes and helps form a long term plan to help the people around him change, grow, and pull themselves out of their grim situations.

With a cast of diverse and multifaceted characters as well as a compelling and fulfilling narrative, this graphic novel is one for the bookshelves!

10/10 will definitely read again as well as recommend to anyone who will stop and listen to me gush! Pick up a copy! You won't regret it!

I’ve been getting more into comic books/ graphic novels lately and this did not disappoint. I can't wait for the next book. I found it inspiring that the main character didn’t have the conference and slowly grew into it. I love that this story doesn’t go into stereotypes but tells a refreshing story on grown. I personally enjoyed it very much!

I am pretty captivated by Quincredible. As a character Quin is charmingly awkward & realistic. While other side characters (namely, the villain) could do with some more development, I look forward to seeing how that grows over the series. Admittedly, there are some panels where the illustrations were not my favorite, but overall I am a fan of this. I look forward to #2.

I am quite curious as to how this fits into the overall Catalyst Prime Universe.

For Libraries: A good addition to teen graphic novel shelves, especially where diversity and superheroes are in demand.