'Genius' Review!

From Christopher Herbert at Comic Book Goblin:

From the dramatic first page, a Splash panel in which we see a cop being shot, blood flying, you can tell that this is something slightly different. Set in South Central, Los Angeles, Genius is centered around one ‘Destiny Ajaye’. A 17 year old girl, she has united her community with one purpose. War on the LAPD! The police are no longer welcome in her neighbourhood, Destiny has declared Martial Law, HER law!

This is a nice ‘Pilot Episode’ for a series. A simple premise effectively executed, Genius introduces us to the characters quickly, setting up the plot and direction of the story without bogging itself down with unnecessary exposition. Marc Bernardin and Adam Freeman are obviously very talented writers, as with seemingly little effort they have made the characters interesting and intriguing. I, for one, would like to know more about them (the characters, that is).

Afua Richardson has a simple, clean art style that I wasn’t sure about to begin with. I initially felt that the comic would have benefited from a darker, grittier look, with a bit more detail. However, as the story progressed Richardson’s style grew on me. It’s a nice contrast between the darker elements of the story and the art, which works quite effectively. The action sequences are particularly good. Richardson manages to give the comic a cinematic feel.

All in all, I would welcome Genius to return as an ongoing series, but I guess that’s down to the voting public. This is a comic as written by Spike Lee, with a little of TV’s The Shield thrown in. Highly enjoyable and a welcome change of pace….Recommended.