In GLAMORELLA’S DAUGHTER #1, available from Literati Press on July 7th, 2021, Comet is the inquisitive, autistic daughter of the world’s greatest superhero. When scientists attempt to reopen the portal to Glamorella’s homeworld, a dangerous threat finds its way back to Earth.
The Details
- Written By: Charles J. Martin
- Art By: Jerry Bennett
- Colors By: Jerry Bennett
- Letters By: Charles J. Martin
- Cover Art By: Jerry Bennett
- Cover Price: $5.00
- Release Date: July 7, 2021
Was It Good?
Well, it’s a mixed bag. There are parts of this comic that are great, notably the art. Then, there are parts of this comic, specifically the writing, that make it difficult to understand who this was written for.
The central focus of this story is Comet, Galmorella’s daughter, and yet several concepts and settings introduced in the story are either wildly outdated (Do Finishing Schools exist anymore?) or too mature for a child or YA reader to understand (very few adults, let alone children, have ever heard of or read Gladwell’s Tipping Point).
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To be clear, the premise of the story isn’t bad at all. However, the main down point is that the story, in its execution, tries to appeal to both children and adults without successfully bridging the gap between the two audiences. The net result is a clear premise with a disjointed narrative.
The secondary down point is the lack of any healthy, positive, relatable adults in Comet’s life. The only adult female is an ultra-powerful superhero from another planet who arrived as an adult and yet has a very uninvolved, narcissistic, somewhat modern North American personality. The adult males in her life are either inept, recklessly dangerous, or in the case of her father, almost entirely absent. Throughout an entire mansion filled with pictures and portraits of Glamorella with dignitaries and celebrities, there’s not one picture of Comet’s father anywhere.
It’s not clear if the lack of positive adults was intentional for comedic effect, but it’s hard to miss. I can see adults reading this thinking this young girl, who’s on the autism spectrum, will have a harder time in life without a capable, understanding adult in life. I can see children and YA readers thinking this “weird” girl who asks a lot of “weird” questions is surrounded by “weird” people. In short, this comic appears to be trying to relate to everyone, but without an anchor character for the reading audience, it winds up relating to no one.
However, the art is colorful, clear, and exceptionally well done. Despite our misgivings about the story, this is a visually enjoyable read. See for yourself in our GLAMORELLA’S Daughter #1 preview.
What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
We begin with a “Take Your Children to Work” day event with Glamorella fighting a bunch of brown shirt fascists in the middle of a city park while Comet reads Gladwell’s Tipping Point next to a nearby tree stump.
Right off, there’s an offputting vibe about this opening scene for several reasons. The point of “Take Your Children to Work” is to expose children to what their parents do and to spark some curiosity about a future career. Comet has no superpowers (that we know about) and yet her mother is placing her in an extremely dangerous situation, actively encouraging her to punch people. Bad parenting doesn’t begin to cover this scene.
Later, Comet attends a “Key to the City” ceremony for Glamorella where she asks a plethora of very literal questions about the purpose of the key. This scene makes sense for a child who’s on the autism spectrum, and it does a good job of showing how an event that’s entirely symbolic would seem confusing to such a child, and portraying the types of questions adults would expect from an autistic child.
Later, Glamorella and Comet arrive home to find Comet’s friend, Isaac, dressing up in Glamorella’s costume and speaking about himself in the third person. Wondering how Isaac was able to get into the mansion to try on her clothes, Glamorell’a man servants explain that he had the door code (that Comet gave him) so it must be okay. Isaac and Comet are friends, but it’s difficult to tell Isaac’s age based on the way he’s drawn. Isaac is either a very short adult or a child slightly taller than Comet with a very adult face.
Flashback to Galmorella’s origin story. A team of scientists invented a type of interspace portal to enable travel to other worlds through a dimensional rift. One of the scientists is stuck on the other side when the portal starts collapsing. When his colleagues pull him back through, he brings an alien woman with him — Glamorella.
Back to now. Glamorella (from what we could find, she’s never referenced by any Earth name in this first issue, and it seems odd as she doesn’t start life on Earth as Glamorella), is primping for a social event. She’s surprised to find Isaac is in her mansion, again, helping Comet do her makeup and hair to get ready for the event. Glamorella seems annoyed that Isaac is attending the event as well and warns him not to put on any of her dresses.
The event is a dance at Comet and Isaac’s Finishing School. Despite Gamorella and Comet’s teacher’s best efforts to get Comet to participate in the dance, she’s simply not interested in dancing or taking part in any of the activities. Again, that’s a very typical reaction for an autistic child, either through parallel play or inherent resistance to overstimulation, and the writer does a good job portraying how that situation would play out in real life.
The next scene is a montage of Glamorella correcting her daughter on a myriad of topics (ala “stop kicking off your shoes in the hallway”) as Comet walks through rooms and hallways covered with pictures and awards that enshrine her mother’s celebrity life. It’s not clear the point the writer is making here. Possibly, the story is trying to point out the barriers between adult and child when the adult is obsessed with achievement and the child has no interest in achievement at all.
We flashback again to Glamorella’s arrival on Earth. The scientists who brought her through keep her in an isolation room with an observation window and an intercom. Glamorella can’t understand our language, but she begins to form a bond with the scientist who found her, Comet’s future father.
Back to now, Comet’s father drives up to the mansion to pick up Comet for what appears to be joint custody time. It’s not clear when or if the couple was ever married, why they split, or how they came to their current custody arrangement when Glamorella’s life is infinitely more dangerous than Comet’s father’s. As the adult smake chit-chat while Comet loads her things into the car, we learn the NASA scientists are trying to repair the portal that brought Glamorella here in the first place to prevent its activation from the other side. Glamorella is opposed to the idea due to its inherent potential for danger.
We conclude the issue with the latest portal experiment going horribly wrong.
How Does It End?
Glamorella doesn’t need saving. NASA’s fears come true. Scientist Steve takes an unexpected trip.
Final Thoughts
GLAMORELLA’S DAUGHTER #1 is a valiant attempt at casting the complexities of a mother-daughter relationship in the world of superheroes. The art is visually engaging, and the premise is a unique combination of genres, but the integration of adult and young reader themes falls short.
Score: 6.5/10
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