Morning Glories is one of those hot new series that’s popped up with a lot of fanfare recently. Why is it so popular? On the surface, there are no superheroes and these are completely unknown characters.
This week, I bought all three issues of the series to see what all of the fuss was about, and I am hooked. This series lulls you in and attacks you with refreshingly original ideas. Each issue simultaneously reveals hints of the truth and raises new questions. This month’s issue showed that the evil behind the recently established Morning Glories Academy may date back centuries, but we still don’t know for what the faculty and captors are looking. They apparently have no qualms over killing to achieve their objective, but their goals are a complete mystery.
Morning Glories is fascinating both in the actual story and in the technique of the storytelling. Issue #3 is a prime example of effective pacing in comics. The book starts off with a mysterious prisoner from the past and shows her plight in big, revelatory panels. Then, the book slows down for some character building in present day with extensive conversation over recent story points. We switch to the character who was the subject of that lengthy conversation, and the rest of the book is a fast-paced, moody action sequence inter-cut with a profound character moment.
The entire art team also does a fantastic job. Rodin Esquejo continues to produce iconic, chilling covers, and Alex Sollazzo’s coloring is subtle for the most part and dynamic when the violence kicks up. Johnny Lowe’s understated lettering deftly handles the few wordy pages. At the center of it all, Joe Eisma’s crystal clear artwork creates believable characters. At a glance, readers can easily tell who is supposed to be a teenager and who is an adult based solely upon body shapes and proportions. In a story without superhero costumes, this kind of precision is essential to the book’s storytelling ability.
This comic, more than any other on the stands right now, makes me immediately want to have the next issue in my hands. The cliffhangers pay off in exciting and unexpected ways in each issue.