Review: Genius #5

The conclusion to Genius‘ story begins with a race against the National Guard and their Abrams tanks! Destiny must zoom in and out of traffic on her motorcycle to force cars into each other, delaying the Guard as much as possible. Cars are no obstacle to an Abrams tank as they steamroll over them. Hopefully the civilians were able to escape their vehicles before they were smashed to bits. The beginning is full of action and purpose, but does the rest of the comic live up to the exciting beginning? Is it good?

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Review: Genius #4

The party is over and Destiny faces two huge challenges: betrayal and loss in one of two issues of Genius on shelves this week. Will she capitulate and fold her hand or will she continue to fight? But an even better question: is it good?

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Review: Genius #3

Marc Bernardin and Adam Freeman begin Genius #3 with an absolute shocker. They take the reader back in time to when Destiny was only 12 or 13 years old and reveal a kid who is not trying to blend in as she was in Genius #1, but is instead taking her first steps on the road of violence.

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Review: Genius #2

Marc Bernardin and Adam Freeman take the reader out of the war zone and into the press room to unveil another level to Destiny Ajaye’s genius. The war will not only be fought in the streets, but will also be fought in the living rooms of the everyday American watching the late night special or browsing the internet.

Representing the media, Bernardin and Freeman introduce Izzy Cortina, a rough and tumble editor who demands results. She is all about breaking the news and will go to whatever lengths to do so, and does she ever! She jumps out of a helicopter into the South Central streets after her pilot refuses to land fearing being shot down by the LAPD or the gangbangers.

In the meantime, Destiny is still engaging the LAPD on the ground and leading her gangbangers, while her videos go viral on the internet and are picked up by Izzy’s news channel. Destiny’s talents are on display from the mixing of chemicals in the creation of explosives to deftly handling a sub-machine gun all the while keeping her eye on the bigger picture. She juggles everything perfectly forcing the hand of LA’s SWAT team.

Bernardin and Freeman do a wonderful job of adding realism to the story incorporating talking heads arguing over the morality of the “South Central Siege” as well as including leaders such as Al Sharpton and Jim Brown discussing how they will address the situation. They also briefly touch on police corruption. These details add the extra touch in reinforcing the believability of the story.

The book builds to an excellent climax with Destiny and her gangbangers coming to a head with LAPD’s SWAT team. Afua Richardson’s action sequences are up to par whether it is bullets riddling gangbangers or cracking the shield of a cop in cover. Her use of highlighting the characters in certain panels reinforces the emotions of the characters, whether Detective Grey is in orange yelling to pull the officers back or a mother and her two kids highlighted in blue are taking cover from the gun fight. She also does not use traditional panels throughout the book, but on one page has the flow set up wonderfully from a kitchen setting blending into a bird’s eye view of the city with cars burning and police vehicles looking like ants. The page doesn’t end there, but also shifts to Destiny armed with a rifle on the rooftop to a picture of what she is seeing through the scope. Richardson does this a number of times and each time the story flows effortlessly.

Following the battle with SWAT, Bernardin and Freeman leave an excellent cliffhanger that will challenge Destiny in a way the reader has not seen yet and test her genius once again!

8.4	Bernardin and Freeman add another layer to Destiny’s brilliance and, coupled with Richardson’s artwork, improve upon an already entertaining series.

Review: Genius #1

Genius #1 is the story of Destiny Ajaye and her rise to power in uniting all of the Los Angeles gangs against the Los Angeles Police Department. Writers Marc Bernardin and Adam Freeman begin with a mixed message letter to a Brigadier General that not only identifies Destiny as the leader of the Los Angeles gangs but also refers to her as “Suspect Zero” the unknown leader that only one man, Detective Grey, believes exists. The letter is not really a letter at all, but appears to be a summary and lead-in to the ensuing pages of the book disguised as a letter.

Following the letter to the Brigadier General, Bernardin and Freeman set up a good comparison between how Destiny and her crew are preparing in contrast to the police. Destiny’s crew is stocking supplies, readying weapons, and resting while the police are scrambling, moving into assault mode without a plan, and sending in a desk jockey to figure out what exactly is going on. The two sides could not be further apart when it comes to organization.

However, the meat of the story does not begin until Detective Grey muses on how “Suspect Zero” rose to power through the ranks. The combination of Bernadin and Freeman’s writing with Afua Richardson’s visual portrayal is harmonious. They portray Destiny as a person who “will do anything to keep from getting noticed” through a simple multiple choice test where she erases Portugal and circles Germany to answer which country is not an Axis Power. It is extremely simple but conveys the powerful message of needing to fit in to survive. There is one panel where she discovers the game of chess and her face is superimposed over the board. The reader can tell she just gets it and her intellect for tactics will be hard to rival.

The police find out the hard way. Destiny deploys her troops wonderfully when the police move in. The way she is able to eliminate the police air support is exceptional and really shows how brilliant her tactical strategies are. Not only does she have an excellent tactical mind, but she is ruthless too. Richardson once again does a good job of presenting the reader with the visual, highlighting Destiny in red to portray her brutality. The red ribbon she uses on the page to connect Destiny to her victims is an added effect, symbolizing not only the bullets’ paths but also a trail of blood she leaves in her wake.

Not everything is rosy; there are some minor annoyances including what seems to be a recurring theme in opening books— multiple time jumps from the past to the present without any cues to let the reader know. There also seem to be some panels that are forced in to create a transition, but come off as awkward and out of place.

Bernardin, Freeman and Richardson have created a riveting story where the biggest question yet to be answered is can Detective Grey stop Destiny before the LAPD is wiped out?

7.8	An exhilarating story of a rise to power and a gang war against the LAPD make Destiny Ajaye one to keep your eye on.