REVIEW: Girl Taking Over: A Lois Lane Story
Girl Taking Over: A Lois Lane Story is written and drawn in a way that’s meant for the younger audience it’s aimed for but is entertaining and thought provoking enough to capture the attention of older generations.
Girl Taking Over: A Lois Lane Story is a newly released Young Adult Graphic Novel from DC Comics. Highlighting a rarely seen time in Lois Lane’s life, this story plays as a sort of origin with modern sensibilities. At its heart, this is an empowerment story that should resonate well with its target audience but done in a way that can speak to anyone.
Artist Arielle Jovellanos and Colorist Olivia Pecini handle all the art, interior and cover alike and it’s simply fantastic. As with most YA Graphic Novels, the cover is fairly simple in its design. The main title takes up the most space while a young Lois begins pushing it out of her way. Being done by the same art team, the cover acts as a bit of a teaser for what to expect inside and works as a great metaphor for certain aspects of the story. Pecini’s color use is bright and flashy on every page easily capturing your attention to every detail. Based more as a drama, Jovellanos’s art has a manga style about it which helps balance the tone of the story. The way they handle flashbacks and montages is clever and fun as well as the constant phone calls from Lois’s mom. There’s so much to see and process which adds depth and believability to the book.
Writer Sarah Khun, lettered by Melanie Ujimori, takes us back to a summer before Lois enters college. Accepting an internship at CatCo in National City, it seems Lois’s life plan is falling into place until she’s forced to be roommates with an estranged friend and walks into Cat Grant being fired on her first day interning. Told in four parts, the story follows her entire summer as she tries to reconcile her dream of being a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter with failing expectations. Dealing with seeking not just the truths of the world, but the truths of oneself, Girl Taking Over: A Lois Lane Story gives voice to the experiences faced by many of today’s generation with relevant context.
Girl Taking Over: A Lois Lane Story is written and drawn in a way that’s meant for the younger audience it’s aimed for but is entertaining and thought provoking enough to capture the attention of older generations. An empowerment piece of perseverance, coping through adversity, maintaining a sense of self, and refusal to let others steal your worth, this book speaks to the essence of Lois Lane in a real life capacity. Outside of using Lois Lane and Cat Grant, this story could easily be a realistic tale of any young person trying to make their mark on the world. That being said, the characters introduced are engaging and fascinating enough to warrant a nod in DC’s mainstream continuity even if there’s a possibility for a sequel.
Star Rating: ★★★★☆/★★★★★
