Alicia Keys

A celebrity-driven graphic novel that's not bad but lacks real spark.

Loretta "Lolo" Wright undergoes a fairly standard "teen discovers they have super powers" origin: sharing her powers with some friends and family, hiding them from other friends and family, dealing with random bullies and a neighborhood-level bad guy with a simple profit motive, finding out a member of her family has been hiding a secret. Kids who haven't seen these beats too many times already and fans of Alicia Keys trying graphic novels for the first time will probably enjoy it, but it's all too familiar to me. The characters are likable though, and I would be interested in seeing a sequel that truly allows Lolo to show her inner fire instead of just reacting to everything.

I wonder if there was a whole creative/editorial discussion wherein it was decided Lolo having pyrokinetic powers would be too on the nose? They have settled on telekinetic and telepathic powers instead, which seems sort of safe and ordinary as far as super powers go.… (meer)

The drawings were amazing. The character of Lolo will be an inspiration to girls everywhere. A strong voice of girl power. Believing in yourself and those around you.
The story just felt like it jumped too much. No explanation of what caused the mom to leave, just inferred that she had “issues” which turned out to be her own powers. Michael’s background was implied, had to read into the story to understand his background. How did he cause Lolo to tap into her power? Teens will enjoy this story.… (meer)