Emiko Superstar

Months ago I picked up a freebie at Kings. It was the preview of the Minx line being put out by DC Comics. I didn't grab it because it was free. I grabbed it because it was different... and free. It featured many tales about many young women. Not the spandex clan crime fighters and world savers one usually imagines in a knee jerk reaction mention of comics. This was about women, by women. The preview book had a lot of solid stuff, and about halfway through I came across EMIKO SUPERSTAR by Mariko Tamaki and Steve Rolston.

I knew I had to have that book.

It got placed on my pull sheet the following week, even though the solicits for it were not in Previews yet. The guy who does my pulls had no clue what it was. Week after week we waited for mention of it. Patience got rewarded and Derrick told me he finally spotted it and ordered it. I was pretty happy, and then came the news that DC was shutting down their Minx line. I'd still get my book, but I'd have to look elsewhere for more. DC seems to be making a lot of crappy decisions lately.

I got the book this week. It's a small unassuming thing, easily overlooked in my collection by someone browsing and not knowing any better. The cover is perfect like that because that's what we're reading about: a girl who is so easy to overlook that even she doesn't realize how cool she is.

This is not a story for just teenage girls. This is for every person who wants to create and throw their work to the masses. Its for the wannabe artist. The people who know they have something to express but are either to afraid to do it or are struggling to find their voice. It's a look at fifteen minutes of fame for such a person.

It's an absolute gem.

It's an understated, twinkling, little star of a comic that you'll miss if all you're interested in is looking at the big constellations for the stories of the gods.

So if you've got $10 bucks to spare, give it a shot. Do it for the geeks like Emiko who are cooler than they give themselves credit for.