Review: Morning Glories #15

It’s no lie that I’m a fan of Morning Glories, I find the story very character based with just the right amount of supernatural things going on to make it completely intriguing and captivating. The one thing you must know when picking up an issue of Morning Glories is that the answers are never going to be given directly to you, even when it seems as if they are. Some will love this while others may find it hard to follow. I’m of the former; I love it. Issue 15 is a direct continuation of the story we were following in the previous issue and we’re still following Hunter, Zoe and for a brief time Jun!
This group is going full on into the wood run and Zoe is out for the prize.

The great thing about this book is that the writer, Nick Spencer, and the artist, Joe Eisma, have worked together before on previous comic series from Image (Existence 2.0/3.0). Obviously, they have figured each other out and the result is a comic that flows naturally with art and script being paired, in my opinion, perfectly.

In this issue a lot of the dialogue is between Hunter and Zoe. These two characters and their personalities play well off of each other! Hunter is a more laid back frantic kind of person where Zoe seems to be more controlled and thinks she has everything figured out! There are a lot of references made by Hunter that will make him more relatable to those of the nerdy variety including Lost Boys and Kill Bill references. While Zoe offers her unsolicited opinions on other Glories and their situation with lines like “She's only as nice as she thinks the perfect person is supposed to be.” And “End of the day we're all just victims of our surroundings.” While neither of these characters are my favourite of the series this is by far my favourite issue dialogue wise. At the end of the day, watching the play between Zoe and Hunter is just charming.

The art in this issue is on par with every other issue in the series. I love Eisma’s style. Joe seems to have found a way to depict the movement between panels that allow for a natural progression within the story. You believe that, given her dialogue, that Zoe would move through the panels the way it is shown while explaining to Hunter just what their situation was. As the story progresses and they get further into their quest the art suggests they are getting into trouble while moving toward Zoe’s prize. Later, you can tell by the movement between current story and flashbacks that something is just a little off with Zoe. Eventually, we see just how off she is with horror like shots of a knife and an ominous walk into the woods. Finally, full panels are deftly used to pull the issue into a close leaving you questioning if you should trust any of the Glories completely.

This issue is a prime example of why you should be reading Morning Glories - it gives you just enough answers while leaving you wanting and needing to know more about the academy, this story, and most importantly who the Morning Glories are themselves. It has perfectly paired art and story and it’ll leave you wanting more. 8.5/10