- TeenStrike 1 & 2
- Dinosaur Entertainment
- Story by Jesse Sosa
- Art by
- Fran Arias (pencils & inks)
- Jesse Sosa (colors)
- Sarahy Ocanto (letters)
Jesse, Dave, & Roy. Three average American teenagers, doing average American stuff. They go to school, they hang out, and above all they support each other and their community. Oh, and they have superpowers. Almost forgot about that bit.
Comics like TeenStrike are few & far between for a couple different reasons. Where many superhero comics start with gnarly hero concepts and work backward to fill in the characters, this one comes from a much more character-driven origin. That could be because these characters started as idealized versions of their teen creators, building over time until finally being released into the world. Another unique quality is that superheroics almost take a secondary role in the story to the more mundane aspects of the characters. One thing that isn’t uncommon in the world of indie comics is that at its core, TeenStrike is a deeply felt labor of love.
Jesse Sosa presents a story about a group of exceptional kids driven to do exceptional things, all for their own reasons. Told mainly from a first-person perspective, that of teen/team leader Jesse, readers get a lot to chew on before fully seeing the young heroes in action after over thirty pages. Over those pages, the group grows from the core of three lifelong friends into a gathering of different and not always gelling personalities. With that many players running around, not everyone gets a lot of page time, but pretty much everyone gets their moment. As the series goes on, we’ll see if everyone gets more fair play to work with. It’ll also be interesting to see Sosa’s writing grow beyond the occasional overuse of exposition to lay out his plot points, but that’s a minor quibble on my part as he’s doing a lot of creative juggling.
Visually, we’re looking at a pretty unique book. I see a lot of comics, all different styles and levels of talent, and I appreciate them for what they are. I love that in TeenStrike, the artistic team is going for a more stylized, cartoony version of the superhero squad. That’s not to say it’s in any way simplified or that the action suffers in any way. I’m just saying that Fran Arias, Jesse Sosa, & Sarahy Ocanto took a different approach, more on the side of Ben 10 than the Avengers. The work that went into lettering adds to some of the story, showcasing certain powers & giving voice to Jesse’s layered inner dialogue, only occasionally dipping into the “too much” camp of design and stylization.
With room to grow and an obvious appeal to a younger set of readers, TeenStrike isn’t just for kids. Anyone who sat around a table creating stories with their friends, whether with the idea of making comics from the start or while rolling “math rocks”, should take a good look at this one. For its flaws, there are legitimate laugh-out-loud moments and solid super-team dynamics in play.
Final Score: 10/13
