1300. Rocket Girl, "Times Squared", Volume 1

Going into this Graphic Novel I knew nothing about the artist or the writer. There was just something about a girl using a rocket pack to fly. As I got into the story, I found it to be an interesting Science Fiction themed story from a future that took a slight turn. So, this is NOT a comic book about a Superhero, but rather, it's a story about a 15-year old NYPD officer from the future. And there is Time Travel. This girl, teenager, cop knows what has made her future so wrong, so she decides to go back to 1980s NYC to fix it. And while there, she still tries to be a cop. Of course, that simply won't work... A teenage cop? No one can accept that in 1980s America. So, what is Dayoung Johansson, the heroine of this comic to do?

Read this book -- It has a price of only $9.99. It collects volumes 1-5 of the ongoing comic book series. I recommend it.

1008. Wandering Star (Volume One)

The "Wandering Star" Graphic Novel (GN for the un-initiated) by Teri Sue Wood, follows the story of Cassandra, daughter of the president of the United Nations in the year 2192. After a long World War, and after making contact with aliens, humanity fights a war with the Bono Kiro, a war like race, that the Galactic Alliance does not want to deal with. Yet, the lowly Earthlings manage to defeat them...

But, I am getting ahead of myself. In this book, we do not find anything about that first war with the Bono Kiro. Instead, we find out about Cassandra's first year at the Galactic Academy where all the sons and daughters of planetary leaders attend school. And although Earth provided a big service by defeating the Bono Kiro, Earth's people are still treated as second hand citizens.

Cassandra receives a lot of abuse from schoolmates. Especially Mekon DZN Appogand and his sister Lindi. But Cassandra manages to maintain her composure and temper not succumbing to the Earther stereotype of a hot-tempered human. She eventually makes some friends in the form of Madison (who empathic), Elli (an energy being) and Graikor. Graikor and Elli are building the spaceship "Wandering Star" (namesake of the GN). And thus the adventure begins.

Overall, this is a nice little Graphic Novel, done in Black & White, sometimes the preferred method of artists to communicate with the public. Why do I say that? Well, sometimes, when the full color palette is available, the artists go wild and overwhelm us, wanting to prove their prowess at their art. Yet, with this B&W style, we are able to see facial expressions, interactions between individuals, emotions on people's faces and other details, such as scenery, machinery, etc., that is important to the storyline.

Having said that, I was a bit disappointed at times of the way that Cassandra was drawn. It could be that I was overwhelmed by the effect of the older Cassandra reliving and recounting events in the past, when she was just a teenager. The differences between were striking. Yet, I also saw differences between the way present day Cassandra was drawn from panel to panel.

Having said all that, my complaint is a rather minor one, because this is really a very good GN, and I highly recommend it to every one. I hope to soon read Volumes 2 & 3.

3 stars out of 4.