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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
A coming of age graphic novel about Starfire's daughter finding her place.
A good recommendation for someone who likes coming of age graphic novels with superhero themes.
A good recommendation for someone who likes coming of age graphic novels with superhero themes.
Review copy: Library
I didn’t watch many cartoons as a kid, and I’m definitely making up for lost time now, but one of the shows I managed to watch on the sly was Teen Titans. I want to say Starfire was my favorite character, but pretty much every character was my favorite. In any case, I have always been a huge fan of Mariko Tamaki’s work and seeing that Tamaki was writing a Starfire comic, I was over the moon. I had I Am Not Starfire on my radar for quite a while, and it did not disappoint!
I Am Not Starfire follows Mandy, Starfire’s daughter, as she struggles to escape from the long shadow that Starfire casts as a superhero. As she grapples with her identity and grows closer to her school project partner Claire, she must face who she is and what she wants from the world.
I’m a sucker for stories that center mother-daughter relationships, and I Am Not Starfire is very much about that. With an alien superhero mother front and center, there were moments where the story — and Mandy’s friend Lincoln, if I recall correctly — draws parallels to the difficulties children face when trying to relate or live up to the expectations of their immigrant parents. This angle, along with the blossoming queer romance, is what I really loved about this story. And of course, as you can tell from the cover, the art by illustrator Yoshi Yoshitani is simply gorgeous. You’ll want to pause and really admire the panels as you read.
I Am Not Starfire is a beautifully rendered and fun comic to read. I love the direction of DC Comics recently, with comics like Shadow of the Batgirl (mini-review here) and Nubia: Real One (review here) that are accessible to new readers and written by some incredible BIPOC creators. I hope there will be more like this to come!
And, if you do end up reading and loving I Am Not Starfire, I’d recommend rating it positively on Goodreads or the platform of your choice. It looks like I Am Not Starfire was review bombed with 1-star ratings by angry comics “fans” (ugh), which is really unfortunate given that I Am Not Starfire was a delightful read and doesn’t deserve the hate.
Recommendation: Get it soon!
I didn’t watch many cartoons as a kid, and I’m definitely making up for lost time now, but one of the shows I managed to watch on the sly was Teen Titans. I want to say Starfire was my favorite character, but pretty much every character was my favorite. In any case, I have always been a huge fan of Mariko Tamaki’s work and seeing that Tamaki was writing a Starfire comic, I was over the moon. I had I Am Not Starfire on my radar for quite a while, and it did not disappoint!
I Am Not Starfire follows Mandy, Starfire’s daughter, as she struggles to escape from the long shadow that Starfire casts as a superhero. As she grapples with her identity and grows closer to her school project partner Claire, she must face who she is and what she wants from the world.
I’m a sucker for stories that center mother-daughter relationships, and I Am Not Starfire is very much about that. With an alien superhero mother front and center, there were moments where the story — and Mandy’s friend Lincoln, if I recall correctly — draws parallels to the difficulties children face when trying to relate or live up to the expectations of their immigrant parents. This angle, along with the blossoming queer romance, is what I really loved about this story. And of course, as you can tell from the cover, the art by illustrator Yoshi Yoshitani is simply gorgeous. You’ll want to pause and really admire the panels as you read.
I Am Not Starfire is a beautifully rendered and fun comic to read. I love the direction of DC Comics recently, with comics like Shadow of the Batgirl (mini-review here) and Nubia: Real One (review here) that are accessible to new readers and written by some incredible BIPOC creators. I hope there will be more like this to come!
And, if you do end up reading and loving I Am Not Starfire, I’d recommend rating it positively on Goodreads or the platform of your choice. It looks like I Am Not Starfire was review bombed with 1-star ratings by angry comics “fans” (ugh), which is really unfortunate given that I Am Not Starfire was a delightful read and doesn’t deserve the hate.
Recommendation: Get it soon!
I liked this book a lot! Of course the art was gorgeous and I love the character designs, especially for Mandy (she was fat and they drew her fat with a stomach and everything, how novel!).
My only problem is that, gut reaction, I didn't like the ending. I'll have to think on it some more, but what I saw was that Mandy and her mom's conflict is that Mandy kept comparing herself to Starfire and letting the fact that she didn't have powers and wasn't cool and famous or whatever make her unhappy and damage their relationship. I don't say this often but the mom really wasn't that bad. She's a poor communicator and there were situations she handled badly, but I felt like most of the issues stemmed from Mandy's insecurity. So it bothers me that instead of learning that she doesn't need to compare herself or be just like her mom, she just...also gets powers and becomes famous...like her mom. There's definitely nuance in her transformation and it's interesting, but it rubbed me the wrong way.
My only problem is that, gut reaction, I didn't like the ending. I'll have to think on it some more, but what I saw was that Mandy and her mom's conflict is that Mandy kept comparing herself to Starfire and letting the fact that she didn't have powers and wasn't cool and famous or whatever make her unhappy and damage their relationship. I don't say this often but the mom really wasn't that bad. She's a poor communicator and there were situations she handled badly, but I felt like most of the issues stemmed from Mandy's insecurity. So it bothers me that instead of learning that she doesn't need to compare herself or be just like her mom, she just...also gets powers and becomes famous...like her mom. There's definitely nuance in her transformation and it's interesting, but it rubbed me the wrong way.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Update now that I've finally gotten a chance to read it:
*3.5 stars (rounded up, as usual)
This was pretty fun! Angsty and humorous in the right places. Not my favorite of the new DC ya graphic novels, but still enjoyable.
I also really liked Yoshi Yoshitani's illustrations; I think this was my first book of Yoshi's, so I'm pleased!
Original post:
Want to read mainly because I love Mariko Tamaki and superhero comics, but also because fuck toxic, AnGeRy comic fanboys.
*3.5 stars (rounded up, as usual)
This was pretty fun! Angsty and humorous in the right places. Not my favorite of the new DC ya graphic novels, but still enjoyable.
I also really liked Yoshi Yoshitani's illustrations; I think this was my first book of Yoshi's, so I'm pleased!
Original post:
Want to read mainly because I love Mariko Tamaki and superhero comics, but also because fuck toxic, AnGeRy comic fanboys.
Quite good, worth a read. The climax is a bit predictable, though. Still, it gets across the characters as intended and is all around well done.
Why so much hate? Read it as it’s own thing, not a sequel to teen Titans or anything. The art was nice and I love Mariko Tamaki.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
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
I’m not going to lie, I thought this book was going to be about if Raven was Starfire’s daughter
Characters:
-Mandy is very unlikeable
-she is mean to her friends and she is mean to her crush
-she gets upset when people are trying to be helpful and has a hard time seeing other peoples points of view. She doesn't have any powers.
Starfire
-Mandy’s mom
-she's portrayed as this hot mom who has her life figure out
Mandy and Starfire are supposed to be written as opposites, which I’ll get into later why I have a problem with that.
Mandy’s crush, Claire, is the cool, popular girl. Can you guess who Mandy has a crush on?
Mandy’s best friend, Lincoln, is an anarchist. They really like to emphasize how quirky both of them are.
SPOILERS:
The Plot
So Mandy’s in high school and she has a crush on this girl named claire. They get partnered for a school project, so they have to hang out after school to complete it. Sometimes Claire’s friends make fun of Mandy for her size or her decision to not go to college. There is an incident where Claire takes a picture with the teen titans at Mandy’s house before they start working on their project and Claire posts this to Instagram. This makes Mandy very upset, and this cause there to be a rift between them. Personally, I don’t get the correlation between Claire only wanting to hang out with Mandy so she could meet the teen titans. I think this is more of a result of Mandy’s insecurity than Claire not understanding the situation. I don’t like how the comic frames this situation as Mandy being 100% right. I think it would have been better if Mandy took a look inward instead of immediately cutting out Claire and refusing to believe that Claire could be more than the stereotypical popular girl and herself as an outcast who nobody accepts.
Later on, Mandy comes home from school to see baskets of college brochures and Starfire wants to have a conversation about college. Mandy doesn’t want to go to college and Starfire wants Mandy to pick one. Starfire’s logic is that college can provide her with tons of opportunities and she has the resources and money to have her go anywhere. Mandy overreacts and later runs away from home. Starfire finds her at a local coffee shop and while they are fighting, Blackfire comes and challenges Mandy to a battle for the throne. Even though Mandy has no interest to be a royal or rule tamaran, Blackfire still sees her as a threat, and makes her battle. During the battle, Starfire is incapacitated, Mandy gets super powers, and defeats Blackfire. The teen titans show up and arrest her and Mandy thinks of Blackfire as the “real” opposite of starfire. Mandy and Claire makeup and Mandy decides to go to college. she changed her mind after a conversation with Lincoln when he said that parents just wants to give you what they didn’t have. Raven is also teaching Mandy high school subjects????
SO!
The Crush:
I feel like I couldn’t root for this couple because Claire is nicer than Mandy. Just because she is stereotypically pretty and “popular” (whatever the fuck that means in 2021, I think popularity mostly exists in media than in real life), doesn’t mean Claire is a queen. There really isn’t any proof that she’s popular either. Having a lot of Instagram followers and two friends doesn’t make you popular. And why does Many like her? If it’s because she’s hot, that’s fine, I just don’t think the relationship developed at all. They went from strangers to school project partners to being in a big “fight” and then making up and being a couple really fast. As a lesbian, I was excited at first that there was a wlw relationship, but Mandy is mean to her and I can’t help but feel that Claire deserves better.
The Battle Scene:
I cannot stand Mandy. But this battle scene poses this question: Who is the real opposite of starfire?
If we are talking about externally, there are 3, Raven, Blackfire, and Mandy. All 3 dress in darker colors and wear a more sullen expression (resting bitch face) They also have darker hair. However, they act as different foils when we talk about internally.
-Raven is a foil to Starfire in the Teen Titans series. Starfire’s magic is driven by emotion but Raven’s magic is driven by controlling her emotions. They use their magic inversely, dress oppositely. Raven is more reserved whereas starfire is an extrovert
-Blackfire is Starfire’s sister. Blackfire craves power but Starfire craves love and peace. Blackfire is almost identical except for how she dresses and her hair color. They are opposites internally more than externally.
-Mandy is Starfire’s opposite the most because of her physique and her personality. She is rude to be frank, and Starfire is a ray of sunshine. The comic doesn’t seem to agree with me, but honestly I don't know.
The comic is called I am not Starfire, but instead it should be I am Mandy. The comic’s title even seems to acknowledge that people care more about Starfire than Mandy, so it’s easier to say what Mandy is not as it relates to Starfire than who Mandy is on her own.
The College Arc:
The comic seems to give Mandy this character arc, going from not dating the popular girl to dating her, going from not having super powers to having super powers, going from not wanting to go to college to going to college. All of these transitions happen so abruptly with no real justification or reasoning. Why does Mandy like Claire. Does mandy really just want to go to college because her mother wants her to? What career does she want? Why is mandy given super powers? I think it would have been better if Mandy was not given super powers and she defeated Blackfire with her wit.
In Conclusion:
I’m upset that within this whole comic, no real self-reflection was done. Every single person needs to self reflect in order to grow, and this comic seemed to forget that. The brightness of the art style doesn’t go with this story in my opinion. I think the overall tone should have been darker and deeper. Everything is so surface level and I’m not invested in any of the characters and I dislike most of them. I’m fine having an unlikeable or morally grey main character, but Mandy is intolerable and fake deep.
Characters:
-Mandy is very unlikeable
-she is mean to her friends and she is mean to her crush
-she gets upset when people are trying to be helpful and has a hard time seeing other peoples points of view. She doesn't have any powers.
Starfire
-Mandy’s mom
-she's portrayed as this hot mom who has her life figure out
Mandy and Starfire are supposed to be written as opposites, which I’ll get into later why I have a problem with that.
Mandy’s crush, Claire, is the cool, popular girl. Can you guess who Mandy has a crush on?
Mandy’s best friend, Lincoln, is an anarchist. They really like to emphasize how quirky both of them are.
SPOILERS:
The Plot
So Mandy’s in high school and she has a crush on this girl named claire. They get partnered for a school project, so they have to hang out after school to complete it. Sometimes Claire’s friends make fun of Mandy for her size or her decision to not go to college. There is an incident where Claire takes a picture with the teen titans at Mandy’s house before they start working on their project and Claire posts this to Instagram. This makes Mandy very upset, and this cause there to be a rift between them. Personally, I don’t get the correlation between Claire only wanting to hang out with Mandy so she could meet the teen titans. I think this is more of a result of Mandy’s insecurity than Claire not understanding the situation. I don’t like how the comic frames this situation as Mandy being 100% right. I think it would have been better if Mandy took a look inward instead of immediately cutting out Claire and refusing to believe that Claire could be more than the stereotypical popular girl and herself as an outcast who nobody accepts.
Later on, Mandy comes home from school to see baskets of college brochures and Starfire wants to have a conversation about college. Mandy doesn’t want to go to college and Starfire wants Mandy to pick one. Starfire’s logic is that college can provide her with tons of opportunities and she has the resources and money to have her go anywhere. Mandy overreacts and later runs away from home. Starfire finds her at a local coffee shop and while they are fighting, Blackfire comes and challenges Mandy to a battle for the throne. Even though Mandy has no interest to be a royal or rule tamaran, Blackfire still sees her as a threat, and makes her battle. During the battle, Starfire is incapacitated, Mandy gets super powers, and defeats Blackfire. The teen titans show up and arrest her and Mandy thinks of Blackfire as the “real” opposite of starfire. Mandy and Claire makeup and Mandy decides to go to college. she changed her mind after a conversation with Lincoln when he said that parents just wants to give you what they didn’t have. Raven is also teaching Mandy high school subjects????
SO!
The Crush:
I feel like I couldn’t root for this couple because Claire is nicer than Mandy. Just because she is stereotypically pretty and “popular” (whatever the fuck that means in 2021, I think popularity mostly exists in media than in real life), doesn’t mean Claire is a queen. There really isn’t any proof that she’s popular either. Having a lot of Instagram followers and two friends doesn’t make you popular. And why does Many like her? If it’s because she’s hot, that’s fine, I just don’t think the relationship developed at all. They went from strangers to school project partners to being in a big “fight” and then making up and being a couple really fast. As a lesbian, I was excited at first that there was a wlw relationship, but Mandy is mean to her and I can’t help but feel that Claire deserves better.
The Battle Scene:
I cannot stand Mandy. But this battle scene poses this question: Who is the real opposite of starfire?
If we are talking about externally, there are 3, Raven, Blackfire, and Mandy. All 3 dress in darker colors and wear a more sullen expression (resting bitch face) They also have darker hair. However, they act as different foils when we talk about internally.
-Raven is a foil to Starfire in the Teen Titans series. Starfire’s magic is driven by emotion but Raven’s magic is driven by controlling her emotions. They use their magic inversely, dress oppositely. Raven is more reserved whereas starfire is an extrovert
-Blackfire is Starfire’s sister. Blackfire craves power but Starfire craves love and peace. Blackfire is almost identical except for how she dresses and her hair color. They are opposites internally more than externally.
-Mandy is Starfire’s opposite the most because of her physique and her personality. She is rude to be frank, and Starfire is a ray of sunshine. The comic doesn’t seem to agree with me, but honestly I don't know.
The comic is called I am not Starfire, but instead it should be I am Mandy. The comic’s title even seems to acknowledge that people care more about Starfire than Mandy, so it’s easier to say what Mandy is not as it relates to Starfire than who Mandy is on her own.
The College Arc:
The comic seems to give Mandy this character arc, going from not dating the popular girl to dating her, going from not having super powers to having super powers, going from not wanting to go to college to going to college. All of these transitions happen so abruptly with no real justification or reasoning. Why does Mandy like Claire. Does mandy really just want to go to college because her mother wants her to? What career does she want? Why is mandy given super powers? I think it would have been better if Mandy was not given super powers and she defeated Blackfire with her wit.
In Conclusion:
I’m upset that within this whole comic, no real self-reflection was done. Every single person needs to self reflect in order to grow, and this comic seemed to forget that. The brightness of the art style doesn’t go with this story in my opinion. I think the overall tone should have been darker and deeper. Everything is so surface level and I’m not invested in any of the characters and I dislike most of them. I’m fine having an unlikeable or morally grey main character, but Mandy is intolerable and fake deep.