Slaved by the bell
Think you have it tough at school? Be thankful you don’t go to the Morning Glories academy.
ALL-AMERICAN girl Casey Blevins thinks she has made it big, after being accepted at one of the most prestigious prep schools in the country, the Morning Glory Academy.
Waving goodbye to her family, Casey travels all the way to the academy, where she meets five other students – mean girl Zoe, geeky but sincere Hunter, spoilt rich kid Ike, emo kid Jade, and Jun, the jock of few words.
She soon discovers, amazingly, that all of them share the same birthday, which proves to be the least of the mysteries at this school.
Soon Casey and her friends, the “Glories”, will find themselves fighting for their lives and freedom as they face a neverending ride of family secrets, time travel and sinister conspiracies which include a mysterious group conducting human sacrifices, revolutionaries from other schools launching attacks, and mysterious disappearances at night.
The academy claims that everything happening here is for the creation of a better future. But a future for whom, and at what cost?
Published by Image Comics, Morning Glories is written by Nick Spencer ( Action Comics, Iron Man 2.0, Ultimate Comics: X-Men), with art by Joe Eisma ( Dynamo 5, Notorious), and cover art by Rodin Esquejo ( Avengers Academy, Iron Man). The first 25 issues of the series have been compiled into four trade paperback collections – For A Better Future (Vol.1), All Will be Free (Vol.2), P.E. (Vol.3), and Truants (Vol.4).
Morning Glories is a gripping series, packed with twists and turns at every corner, and more mysteries than the dark side of the moon. The series has been described as The Prisoner set in a boarding school, and Runaways meets Lost.
It is also ridiculously addictive. Anything and everything can happen in Morning Glories Academy. Readers face exploding booby traps, murderous ghosts, sinister conspiracies and cold-blooded murder – all this in only the first issue.
Spencer definitely has a gift for storytelling, as every issue is filled with sharp writing, hilarious dialogue and intriguing plot complications.
The strongest part of Morning Glories, how- ever, is undoubtedly its characters. Spencer takes classic high school archetypes and turns then into compelling personalities with fascinating backstories.
The socially inept Hunter is endearing, while Zoe, who will do anything she can to succeed, is a brilliant character.
Pampered brat Ike is particularly enjoyable to read about – indeed, we reckon he even deserves his own spin-off series. How can you not love a kid who shows up at the funeral of a loved one on a party bus filled with strippers?
Morning Glories is also not averse to killing off characters – a major fan favourite bites it before the first 20 issues, in a rather visceral twist ending.
Eisma’s art is striking and visually pleasing, although his female characters tend to be a little bland. Some of his characters can also be difficult to tell apart (Irina and Aikiko could pass for twins), and one main character, Zoe, is supposed to be Indian-American, but you’d never be able to tell from the way he draws her.
For all its similarities to Lost, it is perhaps fitting that Morning Glories’ main weakness is the same as the cult TV show’s, which was occasionally weighed down by its own mysteries. The ongoing series is into its 27th issue already, and the students (and the readers) are still no closer to figuring out what the heck is going on at the academy than they were in the first issue.