Morning Glories (graphic novel, vol. 1) words by Nick Spencer, art by Joe Eisma, covers by Rodin Esquejo

I never know which of the many people involved in the creation of a graphic novel to list. These three names were listed on the cover and the spine, but there's also Alex Sollazzo (colors), Johnny Lowe (letters), Tim Daniel (design), and Jim Valentino (publisher/reprint editor).

Please note that the artist who did the covers and the artist who drew the actual comic are two different people - they have very different art styles, so don't assume that the cover image I included on the left is what the comic looks like.

Synopsis:

Morning Glory Academy, one of the most prestigious prep schools in the country, has gained 6 new students.

• Ike - He's from a wealthy family and has been kicked out of seven schools. He's slick, arrogant, and highly intelligent, and he thinks he's God's gift to women. He has no respect for rules or authority. Actually, he has no respect for other people, period. He's quite possibly a sociopath.
• Casey - Highly intelligent, with her best subject being physics. She comes from a very loving family and has wanted to go to Morning Glory Academy for years.
• Zoe - She's an adoptee. Prior to going to Morning Glory Academy, she had multiple boyfriends, none of whom knew about each other. From the look of things, she dated them mostly because they gave her gifts and fawned over her.
• Hunter - He has a good relationship with his stepbrother, but that's it. His father barely seemed to notice when he left for Morning Glory Academy.
• Jade - Very, very emo. She baffles and kind of freaks out her family, but they put up with it.
• Jun - From Tokyo. He knows how to fight.

Nearly from the start of the volume, it's clear that something's not right with Morning Glory Academy. Miss Daramount, the faculty liaison, seems particularly interested in Casey, doing her best to break her and force her to do as she's told. After Miss Daramount nearly drowns all the students in an attempt to get Casey to answer a question about Bell's Theorem, one of the new students is taken away. Casey becomes determined to get her back, but she can only do that with the help and cooperation of the other new students.

Review:

Reading this was, for me, like watching the first season of Lost. It's weird, freaky, and often horrifying, and I'm still not sure what's going on, but I'm totally willing to see where the series is going to go.