Book Review: Raising Dion

This comic has been making the rounds on my Facebook feed and in a number of blogs I follow and for good reason!

The product description:

Imagine Superman, but from Martha Kent’s point of view. Or imagine Spider-Man, but from Aunt May’s point of view. This is a superhero story, but from the parent’s point of view. But unlike her son, the mother doesn’t have any powers.

A lot has been said about this comic already. There’s even a really neat book trailer for it, which I’ll add at the bottom.

The first issue is currently available for free (although IndyPlanet is having issues, and little wonder with all the press this has been generating!) so I had to check it out.

First off, the art style is amazing. It seems to leap off the page in terms of color and realism. It’s warm and inviting to begin with (although I expect darker tones as the series continues) and I just really enjoyed looking at it.

Second, the story draws you in off the bat. The main conflict is presented right there on the first page: how do you raise a child as a single parent? Particularly one with superpowers?

But I really love this line, as the first issue segues into the backstory:

This is my story.

This is the sort of story I want to tell. Mundanes in a superpowered world. The mundaness of the fantastic. We know all the major movements now, thanks to DC and Marvel, but what about the behind the scenes? What about the parents, the lovers, the kids? They should own their stories, too, just as much as Nicole is owning hers.

I think Raising Dion is going to show this well. Not only is there a creativity to the premise, but it shows an awareness of its genre and is willing to play with it, like with the origin story for the young superhero.

If you can’t tell, I really, really love this comic. And I think you will too. Again, it’s currently free at IndyPlanet, or you can pay for a hard copy to help support the artists.

And check out their trailer:

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