Advance Review: Strange Academy #11

Strange Academy is a welcome bit of offbeat storytelling in the Marvel universe and the sensibilities of writer Skottie Young and artist Humberto Ramos are a perfect match. Given what a great artist he is, it is honestly a bit shocking to see this book highlight just what a wonderful writer he is as well.

Marvel needs more titles like this, books that give us new characters but acknowledge the larger Marvel Universe. It also shows just how wonderfully interesting Ramos every panel he creates. Even the simplest scenes are injected with a bit of magic under Ramos’ hand. Finally Edgar Delgado just gets it, he understands how to use color to create fantasy and mix it with darkness to highlight mystery.

This issue unfolds as a classic murder mystery with the able detective work of Howard the Duck. The tone of the book and the presence of Howard is a nice callback to Generation X in its heyday. Shaylee invites Toth out to eat but he remains behind to study instead. He is attacked by a symbiote-like menace and the students find his crystalline self shattered. Brother Voodoo recruits CatBeast and others from Weirdworld to cast a spell to unite his shattered body.

Unfortunately the heart is missing leading to the arrival of Howard the Duck to track the culprit. He begins interviewing the very distratabke and untrustworthy students of the school who all have very specific personalities, conflicts and teenage issues to iron out. Howard tracks a clue which points towards Calvin and the student discovers he indeed has been holding onto the heart. Calvin is revealed to have a monstrous symbiote ready to lash out against the students.

This book really does represent the best aspects of the classic Generation X book, students who bicker, are searching for themselves, are incredibly selfish and heroic in turns. It uses characters and concepts which encompass the Marvel Universe while still being contained enough to be an incredibly entertaining ride in its own right. This issue highlights the personalities with a consistent focus on keeping things interesting and fun. The art by Ramos cannot ever be over-praised. There are too few artists like him at Marvel, instantly recognizable yet always varying their style, perspective and story-telling. Ramos and Young are an ideal story-telling team and Strange Academy is a fantastic ride.

Writing: 3.9 of 5 stars
Art: 4.5 of 5 stars
Colors: 4.2 of 5 stars

Overall: 4.2 of 5 stars

Writer: Skottie Young
Art: Humberto Ramos
Colors: Edgar Delgado
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Author Profile

M.R. Jafri

M.R. Jafri was born and raised in Niagara Falls New York and now lives with his family in Detroit Michigan. He's a talkative introvert and argumentative geek. His loves include Star Wars, Star Trek, Superheroes, Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers, Transformers, GI Joe, Films, Comics, TV Shows, Action Figures and Twizzlers.