Review: Rainbow Brite #4

Gwen Dylan Stacy

6 years ago

I’m not sure if any of you are like me, but I always approach things from childhood with a careful apprehension. I’m always slightly afraid that what I might read or watch will tarnish something that I have no real right to be protective of. I won’t be candid about the fact I did exactly this with Dynamite Comics’s Rainbow Brite. While it wasn’t really a my childhood thing, my older cousins had introduced me to it and so it at least held enough nostalgia that I was nervous about how things might play out. That being said, I’m rather glad to be pleasantly surprised by everything within these pages.

If you don’t already know Jeremy Whitley from Marvel’s Unstoppable Wasp because you’re not so much a reader as far as the big two, then this little title might be a great place to start. Especially if you’re looking for another one of those sweet little gems that are able to be shared with family. The art inside these pages is a fun little cartoonesque splash of the color spectrum brought to life by art from Xenia Pamfil and color by Valentina Pinto with cute little letters by Taylor Esposito. Every little lively bit of action explodes onto the pages in full color and utterly charming blips of dialog. What we end up with is a sweet little story that recounts the history of Rainbow Land. The interesting bit of this back history is that it really does teach about the spectrum of light and corresponding colors. Something that I’m sure could be utilized quite well for teaching younger readers once the dialog is open.

If you’re a parent who is going to share this title with their kids, I can wholeheartedly tell you that you will love the fact that there is a magical girl type transformation in this title reminiscent to Sailor Moon. Maybe it’s just me, but stuff like that never lost its appeal for me. There’s something super empowering about watching a girl find her strength and then become something glittery and new; finding courage not only in new-found powers, but in the fact that she always had the power inside herself all along.Â Rainbow Brite’s cute little whimsicial star/color centric pages allows us to teach, not only about Rainbow Land, actual rainbows, andÂ how the spectrum powers work, but also teaches us lessons such as not everything is as it seems.

I think this super fun issue is a solid 3.5 of 5 stars, worthy of a read especially if you’re centering family time around such.

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

(W) Jeremy Whitley (A) Xenia Pamfil