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iffer 's review for:
Nubia: Real One
by Robyn Smith, L.L. McKinney
I really liked this: the story, writing, and art. I loved that Nubia is unapologetically tall and dark-skinned with natural hair. Furthermore, Nubia's parents are a loving lesbian couple who struggles to walk the fine line between raising their daughter to be her authentic self in a world that is a danger to Black folx who are unapologetically themselves. The parent-daughter relationship in these issues was one of the things that strongly pulled me in (perhaps because I am not part of the teen, Gen Z target audience). I very much appreciate that the secret superhero thing in the case of this series is used as a metaphor to underscore how difficult it is, perhaps even more so as a teenager, to hide yourself in order to protect yourself and your family (paralleling the necessity of code-switching and not rocking the boat). Nubia also has strong friendships, even if they are strained due to her keeping her powers secret, and even though there is a "love story" thread, Nubia is skeptical until her love interest proves to be loyal, genuine and caring without insecurity about the fact that Nubia is not only taller than he is, but superpowered! Plus, Nubia both saves, and is saved by the love interest and there isn't any sort of weird power imbalance.
Since the series was written by a self-ascribed blerd, the language is pithy in the way in which comic book writing often is, but in a blunt way that pulls no punches about racism and white supremacy. Yes, white people might argue that the "villain" is too mustache-twitching, but Idaf because we don't really need to spend more time empathizing with fragile racist misogynist cishet white men (especially in a week of two high-profile spree killings unsurprisingly committed by white-presenting men), and we all know that the character is representational of larger societal ills ::shrug:: I also appreciated the art because it was fun, but also because it's always a treat (though it shouldn't be unusual) to see Black folx drawn as diverse, individual, characters.
Since the series was written by a self-ascribed blerd, the language is pithy in the way in which comic book writing often is, but in a blunt way that pulls no punches about racism and white supremacy. Yes, white people might argue that the "villain" is too mustache-twitching, but Idaf because we don't really need to spend more time empathizing with fragile racist misogynist cishet white men (especially in a week of two high-profile spree killings unsurprisingly committed by white-presenting men), and we all know that the character is representational of larger societal ills ::shrug:: I also appreciated the art because it was fun, but also because it's always a treat (though it shouldn't be unusual) to see Black folx drawn as diverse, individual, characters.