Review: Strange Academy #17

Skottie Young and Humberto Ramos are such a great duo and this book has progressively gotten better. Strange Academy feels like a tribute to Generation X, filled with the same angst, mistrust of adults and super-charged young rebellion which made that book so great decades before.

Here the young heroes deal with the aftermath of Calvin’s punishment. Calvin had joined the school after finding a Dr Strange empowered magic jacket which unfortunately was lost with the death of Dr Strange. Calvin turned to basically dealing magic drugs for Gaslamp and was kicked out of the Academy for it.

Skottie Young really has a great handle on all these characters and this issue brings conflicts to the fore. First Dr Voodoo takes down Gaslamp’s minions and confronts him about Calvin. Gaslamp reminds Voodoo of the prophecy of darkness destroying the Academy. Emily confronts her classmates about their inaction over the adults using them as pawns. She feels Calvin’s expulsion is just the latest example of their teachers punishing them rather than teaching them after failures.

Doyle is upset Emily skipped out on their date when comforting Calvin. Iric is more than happy to push Doyle over the edge leading to a massive lunchroom battle. Having been expelled, Calvin joins Gaslamp’s crew entirely. Emily takes it all as proof that prophesies and punishments have spoiled the school and leads a massive student walkout.

It cannot be overstated how much Humberto Ramos was born to illustrate this book. These characters are lifted by his art, emphasizing their different personalities and power sets through their expressions and appearances. This is a book which could feel trite in lesser hands but with this creative team we can feel the emotions and it gives all the proceedings massive stakes.

This is a solid book and shows just how a great creative team can take relatively unknown and apparently minor characters and make readers fall in love with them all.

Writing: 4.2 of 5 stars
Art: 4.8 of 5 stars
Colors: 4.6 of 5 stars

Overall: 4.5

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.