Emily The Strange Graphic Novel Collection Review
If you cast yourself back to the early 2000’s counterculture some major touchstones stand out. It was the height of emo, skateboarding was back in with loads of people (at least at my school) taking part in the sport, and alternative/indie music was one of the most popular genres. The Emily The Strange collection of graphic novels were first published in the early 2000’s, with the character herself first coming into existence in 1991 in California by artist and writer, Rob Reger.
The Emily The Strange collection of graphic novels have all been re-released in hardback for a new audience, bringing together the four book young adult series co-written by Rob Reger and Jessica Gruner – The Lost Days, Stranger and Stranger, Dark Times, and the finale Piece of Mind. The books follow Emily The Strange as she discovers her ancestral secret of control over a substance called Black Rock, as well as dealing with an ancestral enemy who wants to take control for themselves.
Emily herself is a genius, being able to come up with all manner of inventions including a duplication machine, a thoughtcoder that can record and play thoughts, and a time machine. All of these have a bearing in the overarching story that takes place across the four books. Truth be told, Emily can come across as conceited, praising her own genius quite a lot. Then again, she is 13 years old, so some of that comes with the territory.
The Lost Days acts as a very good introduction to the character and her world, introducing the ideas of her fantastical inventions, skills, communicating with dead family members, and black rock in a natural way that you barely even question it. However, after that strong opener, the story quality drops off in Stranger and Stranger, where Emily duplicates herself, with each duplicate possessing different skills and having different personalities. Dark Times is fairly entertaining with time travel being the key to the story, and dealing with a subject of a pandemic killing people – it
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