Reviews

Nubia: Real One by L.L. McKinney

tatyanavogt's review

5.0

I was lucky enough to get my hands on a digital advance readers copy of this comic but at the request of the publisher I held off on reading and reviewing it until the release date. While reading it I felt like the beginning was a little slow, it took a minute for me to feel apart of the story but once I did I got really into it.

I LOVE the idea of this graphic novel. I love the color choices of the art, I love the representation and the messages that it shared. I love seeing a black super hero. I just friggin loved it. I also LOVED the romance part of the story. I will say I didn't love her backstory as much as I would have liked because I wanted something more unique and personal to her but fortunately the story didn't really focus on that so it didn't take away from her story.

But yeah, I loved it so much that I bought the physical copy the same day it came out. And if this becomes a series I'm totally down for it!

annamickreads's review

5.0

UGH I loved everything about this comic.

The art style is beautiful, the story is so bittersweet—I love love love teen hero stories (all the angst, school drama, and everything in between!) and the story is crafted so deftly to illustrate the ways that even with her incredible power, Nubia is still experiencing the incredibly real difficulties that come with being a Black woman in America. Nubia's grappling with her powers and wanting to just help make the world a better place made me want to give her a well-deserved hug, but I really loved and appreciated not only the Wonder Woman cameo (!!!!) but the fact that her support system was so caring and wonderful.

I hope especially in wake of this arc we get 1) more Nubia comics in general 2) more stories like this please!!! A wonderful addition to DC.

bcom's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

nanoauthor's review

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Racism, Sexual assault, and Gun violence

analyticalchaos's review against another edition

2.0

DC origin stories are pretty wooden, and unfortunately, this one falls victim to the same tropes.

However, I do like that the protagonist was developed. I really enjoyed the character dynamics with this one.

holdenkillfield's review

2.0

This story gets muddled and tries tackling too many pressing present-day topics without providing a clear storyline and message. In the end, it sounds cliché and a little heavy-handed. I can appreciate discussing the complex realities of living Black and queer in America, but the messaging gets lost with the too convoluted backstory of Wonder Woman and somehow being related to each other with a far-fetched explanation. In the end, it was ok. I am not the intended audience for the story as I am a Black, queer woman living in America, this is my lived everyday experience, so I can understand a little that topics and messaging are formatted for a more general audience. I was hoping for a more nuanced and specific approach to this character's life rather than a basic generalization.

ericrobien's review

5.0

Everything Robyn Smith touches is gold

candelibri's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

breakfastgrey's review against another edition

4.0

This book simultaneously exceeded and fell short of my expectations. This DC Young Adult line has been faltering more of late, so I wasn't going into this expecting great things. But then the beginning knocked my socks off. The artwork was top notch (shoutout to the colorist, as well!) and the characters absolutely sang. The plot was both moving and subtle. Unfortunately, the second half gets a lot more blunt as if worried that readers can't handle the earlier nuance and begins to repeat itself to make sure you got it. Add in a super awkward cameo (why on Earth would she have arrived in costume and in the most regressive of her costumes, at that?) and I closed the book somehow feeling disappointed that a book I had no expectations for was anything less than 5 stars.

bickie's review against another edition

Nubia and her two best friends are in high school (feels like 11th grade). Despite trying to keep her super-human strength and speed a secret so that she doesn't have to move for the 6+th time, Nubia can't sit by and let others be hurt. When Wayland, a senior white entitled guy won't take "no" for an answer from Nubia's Black friend, he resorts to drastic measures,

Spoiler

including inciting violence at a peaceful BLM protest and showing up to school with a gun intending to kill her,

and Nubia has to decide whether she's ready to own her superhero identity. Includes good models of boundary-setting and discussion about being a bystander v. upstander (not using those terms).

CW: Teenage drinking, some profanity and vulgar language including use of "c*ckblock" a few times.