Gr 8 Up—Living in a world hostile to her and her community, Black teenage superhero Nubia is forced to balance
her need for self-preservation with her desire to stand up for those in trouble. Rose-colored artwork belies Nubia's
often less than rosy struggles. This poignant, relatable story reminds readers of the sometimes necessary risks of
trying to build a better world.

This is excellent!

"I am an all-powerful Amazon warrior,
Not just some sniveling girl."
--Ani Difranco

Page 147: Now the privileged pervy power-tripping parasitic POS is making a pathetic attempt at gaslighting Quisha. #chopupnazis

ACAB ( )

In this YA graphic novel, Nubia is outwardly a typical Black American teenage girl, dealing with a lot of things typical Black American teenage girls face: racial inequality, school violence, police brutality, and hyper-masculine bullies. But Nubia is Wonder Woman’s twin sister and she has a secret power: inhuman strength, which her two moms have taught her not to use so as not to draw attention to herself. Her moms have worked hard to drive the point home: Being Black means some people will see her as a threat, not a hero. Indeed, every time she has used her powers it has caused trouble that forced the family to move repeatedly. The real struggle for Nubia is not using her powers. The story is set in contemporary America where super heroes are an ordinary occurrence. Trigger warnings: police brutality, attempted sexual assault, and racially-motivated violence. ( )

I love when superheroes/powers meet morality, in this case a Black superhero trying to save the world but still having to deal with racism. Like, yeah, she just saved you, but you’re trying to call the cops on her? I could definitely see even with superhero-villain realities, that racism would still be thriving. *nasally racist’s voice* “I don’t want her, one of the bLaCkS, to save me. I want Superman.” Lemme stop lol.

While I love how adorable Nubia looked, her awkwardness, and her struggles of being a hero in the U.S, I couldn’t always mesh with the storyline. The narrative is not subtle. at. all, but I understand it’s to reach a wider audience. Some scenes just don’t feel like they flow naturally.

While there are certainly entitled individuals like Wayland, he felt a bit cartoonish at times. I would certainly believe him typing his garbage on social media, but he would probably do more gaslighting in person.

In the background of the story, a young black boy had recently been murdered, so Nubia’s friend, Quisha organizes a protest. The peaceful protest gets sabotaged as you would expect by Wayland and his white, entitled diet-frat boy gang who think they own the world, and the cops escalate things as you would expect. In addition, another black teen gets shot by the cops

Y’know, this can get very draining (or potentially triggering) to read, so I’m glad the book acknowledges this in its content warnings. This can be a tender reading experience for some.

Still, I liked reading this. These new DC comics are really exploring how to make things relevant for today. I hope Nubia gets another book now that we have her origin out of the way.

2.5 ( )

I love when superheroes/powers meet morality, in this case a Black superhero trying to save the world but still having to deal with racism. Like, yeah, she just saved you, but you’re trying to call the cops on her? I could definitely see even with superhero-villain realities, that racism would still be thriving. *nasally racist’s voice* “I don’t want her, one of the bLaCkS, to save me. I want Superman.” Lemme stop lol.

While I love how adorable Nubia looked, her awkwardness, and her struggles of being a hero in the U.S, I couldn’t always mesh with the storyline. The narrative is not subtle. at. all, but I understand it’s to reach a wider audience. Some scenes just don’t feel like they flow naturally.

While there are certainly entitled individuals like Wayland, he felt a bit cartoonish at times. I would certainly believe him typing his garbage on social media, but he would probably do more gaslighting in person.

In the background of the story, a young black boy had recently been murdered, so Nubia’s friend, Quisha organizes a protest. The peaceful protest gets sabotaged as you would expect by Wayland and his white, entitled diet-frat boy gang who think they own the world, and the cops escalate things as you would expect. In addition, another black teen gets shot by the cops

Y’know, this can get very draining (or potentially triggering) to read, so I’m glad the book acknowledges this in its content warnings. This can be a tender reading experience for some.

Still, I liked reading this. These new DC comics are really exploring how to make things relevant for today. I hope Nubia gets another book now that we have her origin out of the way.

2.5 ( )