Good as Lily (Minx) by Derek Kirk Kim and Jesse Hamm, August 2007 release, offers up an insightful story about a young girl making the right choices that will have a positive impact on her future. Here is the back blurb:
What if your biggest competition was…yourself? Following a strange mishap on her 18th birthday, Grace Kwon is confronted with herself at three different periods in her life, ages 6, 29 and 70. The timing couldn’t be worse as Grace and her friends desperately try to save a crumbling school play. Will her other selves wreak havoc on her present life or illuminate her uncertain future?
Life isn’t going all that well for Grace Kwon. She’s a bit overweight and has a crush on her drama teacher. She’s likable but not the most popular kid in school. However, she’s not without loyal friends. She’s smart having been accepted to Stanford University. Plus she scores the lead in a school play that lacks some financial backing and requires Grace and the rest of the students to come up with creative ideas to save it. Grace like most teens her age just lack confidence.
Life at home isn’t all that great either. Grace feels that she has always lived under the shadow of her older sister, Lily. That thread while being related to the title plays a small part in the story. Also, the great love and affection that she feels for her young drama teacher seems to be misdirected never mind, unattainable. There’s a nice young man who really likes her and seems worthy of her love and affection.
When the story opens, something really weird happens on Grace’s 18th birthday. One evening while trying to retrieve a lost birthday present in the park, she meets versions of herself at age 6, 29 and 70. Each version of herself is at some turning point in their life. Graces refuses to ask questions for fear of ruining her future. However, in the end she does make the right choices that hopefully gives her a much better outlook on her future.
How would you like to go back and meet yourself at a particular age to maybe change the future? I thought the story was great. Brief mention on the artwork: nice not great. It’s not static but at times characters expressions came off rather crude in some scenes. Characterizations were pretty solid and again I really liked the story and the ending had a nice fairytale touch. There’s some bits of humor in here, too. My favorite title so far. My grade, B+.
Technorati Tags: MINX, graphic novels, DC Comics, Coming of Age Story
