Written and Illustrated by Kaare Andrews
Published by AWA Studios
E-Ratic, the new graphic novel from AWA, seems to be a young adult graphic novel, although I don’t see where it’s specifically billed as such.
It does however, substitute the words “truck” and “ship” for more explicit words, which is, of course, odd, because most people reading it would likely hear the other words in their heads anyway. I did.
Let me start by saying this is one gorgeous book!
Canadian writer/artist Kaare Andrews uses an absolutely lovely combination of mixed media computer art that’s stunningly enhanced by colorist Brian Reber and letterer Sal Cipriano’s work even stands out.
Visually, the story of a teen boy who gets superpowers for 10 minutes out of every day is just a joy to go through, every step of the way.
As far as the actual plot, though, I’m not quite certain what the goal was. There’s a definite attempt at making a socio-political statement, seemingly anti-Communist. But whether that statement points overall toward the left or toward the right was lost on me.
Perhaps that obscurity was intentional?
I mean, why alienate some potential readers on either side of the current situation?
Either way, the story is largely set in the microcosm that is high school, and even though odd things are going on in this particular post-pandemic high school, it’s still a time to which most of us can relate.
In this case, Oliver Leif is the typical nerdy new kid in school. His jock brother fits in quickly but Oliver only gets noticed when he is forced to reveal his powers to defend one of the popular girls. In time, Oliver learns more about those powers and becomes involved in a much more threatening situation in which he is forced to use his brains to get around his own built-in time limit.
The whole story is quite well-paced, starting with a teaser, then taking us back to Oliver’s new start, then introducing us to the new teachers’ exaggerated “progressive” curriculum. The main antagonist is a ridiculous stereotype but he’s supplanted by an overarching Big Bad and a genuine surprise villain as well.
In the end, the political messages in the plot reminded me of some of Steve Ditko’s Spider-Man stories, complete with Oliver as Ditko’s Peter Parker. Some of the teachers even remind me of the grotesque bad guys in early Spidey stories. The closing football game with everyone donning their “game faces” reminded me more than a bit of the absurdism in some of late, great Steve Gerber’s Marvel stories of the 1970s.
E-Ratic is a colorful, fun, scary, visit to a world sort of like our own, complete with its confusing politics.
Booksteve recommends.
