Book Review: “They’re Not Like Us: Black Holes For The Young” Vol.1 by Eric Stephenson

“They’re Not Like Us: Black Holes For The Young” Vol.1 by Eric Stephenson (writer), Simon Gane (artist)

Genre: Graphic Novel, Comics, Fiction, Fantasy

Page Length: 144 pages (paperback edition)

Synopsis: 

We all have advantages over one another, but what if you were capable of things most of us can only imagine? What would you do – and who would you be? A doctor? An athlete? A soldier? A hero? Everyone has to make a choice about how to use the abilities they’re born with… but they’re not like us. (description from Goodreads)

Review:

My first of impression of They’re Not Like Us Vol.1 was that the plot is similar to the Runaways (by Brian K. Vaughn),which features a group of teenagers with super powers. In this case the focus is on young adults who deal with the issue of controlling and utilizing super powers which ranges from telepathy to being psychic. It puts the twist on the mutant/super-human trope by making it into a youth in revolt story, as the characters in this book seek justice for all the years they were repressed and singled out for being different.

I appreciated that the characters came from different ethnic and social backgrounds. I thought it not only made the story diverse, but the fact they come from all types of situation adds to the realistic factor. Everyone comes from a troubled backgrounds and they find solidarity in the fact that they have these special powers that no ordinary person would understand. They form a family like bond because they understand they are unique and how they were misunderstood by their peers and family growing up.

It is a violent comic at times (rated mature) but I never felt like it went too over the top. It’s also very fact paced story. From the moment Syd joins the house of super-humans, we get a small montage of her controlling her powers, and then start to uncover the mystery surrounding the group’s leader, The Voice, and his true intentions.

Overall, I think Vol. 1 provides a strong start to the series. The well-written plot interwoven with Simon Gane’s artwork is fantastic. Game gives a lot of attention to facial characteristics of all the characters and provides immense detail to landscape. Thorough the realistic drawings you can connect with the characters on an emotional level.

Final Verdict:

Definitely ready to read more of this series and see what’s to come in the future!