My older brother was an avid comic book reader. He still has boxes full of Batman, Xmen, Spiderman, and other superheroes somewhere. Each volume is covered in its original plastic cover. Essentially, I grew up with comic book heroes because of him. My favorite series is the Xmen because it had my favorite female heroine: Rogue. Rogue contained femininity, strength, flaws, and complexities all wrapped into one. She is also a needle in a haystack of female characters who dress scantily in comics with absurd physical descriptions. I found another Rogue-like character in Joss Whedon's first comic heroine, Melaka Fray.

Description: Hundreds of years in the future, Melaka Fray learns she has a great destiny that may unite a fallen city and save mankind from a demonic plot to destroy the world.

Review: Fray has many similarities with Buffy the Vampire Slayer: a girl of superpower strength chosen to fight against all the evils of the world. Once again, Whedon's focus on girl power takes front stage. Fray has shades of good and bad wrapped into one. She is a thief by day, yet works hard to try to protect her loved ones. She feels guilty in not being able to save her twin brother and can't help but constantly fight her sister, Erin, who is a complete opposite to her. Whedon's witty dialogue, plot twists, humor, and complex relationships shine in this graphic novel. The illustrations are fantastic and I couldn't help but be swept away in the action. A must read for Whedon fans.

Rating: 4 stars


Words of caution: There is fantasy violence that is PG-13 and might be too much for elementary kids. There is some language.

If you like this book, try: Astonishing Xmen by Joss Whedon