Yoshi Yoshitani’s beautiful art is a joy, and certainly part of what makes the book succeed. That’s a character arc I’ve certainly seen in YA before, but new iterations are always welcome, and I Am Not Starfire feels fresh and fun. Mandy is a teenager who learns to value herself and realizes she is loved by her hard working immigrant mom. Mariko Tamaki is treating a more well-worn story here than she was in Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass, my reigning favorite DC title by Tamaki.
The extreme lengths required to show Mandy that neither is true shape the plot of I Am Not Starfire, in a somewhat predictable but also entirely satisfying way. Mandy is therefore convinced that anyone who seems interested in her is only interested in her mom and that her mom is disappointed in her. Mandy also remembers from her childhood how much her mom seemed to be looking out for her powers to manifest. Starfire is constantly sought by fans who frankly discuss her looks and her fashion choices (bikinis) as well as her activities with the Titans. Mandy’s childhood was shaped by her mom’s fame as much as her mom’s personality.
Mandy assumes they have nothing in common and that her mom could never understand her. Mandy, on the other hand, is a chubby goth underachiever with no superpowers and not much social clout. She and her fellow Titans save the Earth, like, a lot. Starfire is a beautiful and kind hero, strong and compassionate, enormous and famous. Mandy has grown up in the shadow of her luminescent mom, Starfire. I Am Not Starfire Aditya Bidikar (letters), Mariko Tamaki (writing), Yoshi Yoshitani (art)
Not the “daughter of a superhero” part, but everything else. I am Not Starfire is a story about teenagers and/as aliens about knowing where you come from and where you are going and about mothers.In I Am Not Starfire, Mandy Anders, the teenage daughter of superhero single mom Starfire, is pretty damn relatable. When someone from Starfire’s past arrives, Mandy must make a choice: give up before the battle has even begun, or step into the unknown and risk everything to save her mom. How do you become the person you’re supposed to be when you don’t know what that is? How do you become the person you’re supposed to be when the only thing you’re sure of is what you’re not? Mandy likes Claire (even if she denies it, heartily and intensely). But then everything changes when she gets partnered with Claire for a school project. Mandy’s big plan is that she’s going to move to France and…do whatever people do in France. Which, yeah, her mom doesn’t know.Įveryone thinks Mandy needs to go to college and become whoever you become at college, but Mandy has other plans. To Starfire, who is from another planet, Mandy seems like an alien, like some distant angry light years away moon.Īnd it’s possible Mandy is even more distant lately, ever since she walked out on her S.A.T.s. Mandy has no powers, is a kid who dyes her hair black and hates everyone but her best friend Lincoln. Starfire is gorgeous, tall, sparkly, and a hero.
Seventeen-year-old Mandy, daughter of Starfire, is NOT like her mother. On sale everywhere books are sold on August 10, 2021įrom New York Times bestselling author Mariko Tamaki (Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me, Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass) and artist Yoshi Yoshitani (Zatanna and the House of Secrets) comes a story about Mandy, the daughter of super-famous superhero Starfire. Illustrated and colored by Yoshi Yoshitani DC Comics has released an early look at I Am Not Starfire, a young adult graphic novel from Mariko Tamaki and Yoshi Yoshitani.