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Comics

What’s So Great About the Touted New Title Morning Glories? Turns Out, Not Much.

A few weeks ago, as I was cruising the "upcoming releases" sections of the major publishers' websites, I came across an intriguing bit of promo copy. Image Comics was touting Morning Glories as the one of the year's most anticipated new series. Really? The basic concept didn't knock my socks off: "Morning Glory Academy is one of the most prestigious prep schools in the country. But behind its hallowed doors, something sinister and deadly lurks." And the creators involved — writer Nick Spencer and Wylie-based artist Joe Eisma — were two guys I'd never heard of. I shrugged, chalked up the "most anticipated" claim to an overzealous marketing department, and moved on to the next website. Fast forward to this week: I find that Image's slate of releases today includes Morning Glories #2 and a third printing of Morning Glories #1. A third printing? What makes this book so hot that it had to be sent back to the press twice? What am I missing?
By Dan Koller |
Image

A few weeks ago, as I was cruising the “upcoming releases” sections of the major publishers’ websites, I came across an intriguing bit of promo copy. Image Comics was touting Morning Glories as the one of the year’s most anticipated new series.

Really? The basic concept didn’t knock my socks off: “Morning Glory Academy is one of the most prestigious prep schools in the country. But behind its hallowed doors, something sinister and deadly lurks.” And the creators involved — writer Nick Spencer and Wylie-based artist Joe Eisma — were two guys I’d never heard of. I shrugged, chalked up the “most anticipated” claim to an overzealous marketing department, and moved on to the next website.

Fast forward to this week: I find that Image’s slate of releases today includes Morning Glories #2 and a third printing of Morning Glories #1. A third printing? What makes this book so hot that it had to be sent back to the press twice? What am I missing?

Even after reading the first issue, I can’t answer those questions. I called around to a couple of stores yesterday to see if I could get my hands on a copy of it (“We only have the second printing. Is that OK?”) and what I found did not inspire me to rush back to the store today to buy Chapter 2.

Morning Glories is about a school where it appears the students are trained to fulfill some nefarious scheme hatched by the faculty. (Details were intentionally vague in the first issue.) The story opens with an escape attempt that ends violently for one student. We then see six stereotypes — the spoiled boy, the emo girl, the slut, etc. — say goodbye to friends and family as they prepare to enroll at Morning Glory. Once they arrive, they discover that all six are celebrating their 16th birthday on their first day of school. And a couple of them discover more disturbing revelations that I won’t spoil here, just in case you’re still tempted to read this book.

But I don’t see why you would. Eisma’s art is decent, but Spencer’s script induced more yawns than wows. Sales figures aside, there wasn’t anything in that first issue that would entice me to enroll in the Morning Glory Academy booster club.

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