[BOOK REVIEW] Morning Glories: P.E. Volume 3 by Nick Spencer

Title:  Morning Glories: P.E. Volume 3

Author: Nick Spencer

Artist: Joe Eisma


Genre: Sci-fi Fantasy

Year Published: 2012

Year Read: 2013

Series: Morning Glories #3

Publisher: Image Comics

Source:  Library

Content Rating: Ages 16+ (Strong Language and Gory Violence)
 

Introduction:

After reading the first two volumes of Nick Spencer’s current comic book series “Morning Glories,” I was interested in seeing what kind of strange and nightmarish adventures our main protagonists are getting themselves into this time.  Well, it turns out that there are even more twists and turns for the characters in this volume than ever before!

What is this story about?

In this volume, the faculty at Morning Glory Academy decided to cancel classes for the rest of the day just so the students could play a game called Woodrun.  Unfortunately, as the students start playing this mysterious game, things start getting really crazy when time travel and various flashbacks of the characters’ past lives start surfacing during the games!

What I loved about this story:

Nick Spencer’s writing:  Once again, Nick Spencer manages to weave in mystery and thrills into this volume as we see the Morning Glories go through various surreal situations during the mysterious game called Woodrun.  I enjoyed the way that Nick Spencer still manages to add more to the characters’ back stories such as Casey’s father being in the military, how the death of Jade’s mother affected Jade deeply and Zoe’s dark past with a teacher at her former school.  It added more dimensions to the characters and I would like to see whether or not these characters would overcome their dark pasts in order to survive in a school that is out to kill them.  I also loved the fact that this volume focuses more on the interpersonal relationships between the characters and how they are trying to get to know each other since it brought more depth to their personalities and it would be interesting to see in future volumes about whether or not they will try working better with each other to escape Morning Glories academy.

Joe Eisma’s artwork:  Once again, Joe Eisma’s artwork is just so gorgeous to look at as the characters glow right off the pages and the action sequences were drawn extremely well.  I also loved how Joe Eisma made the characters’ facial expressions look so realistic and effective as I really took in emotions that the characters were experiencing and I felt myself sympathizing with the majority of them.

What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

The main problem I been having with this series so far was that the stories continue to switch back and forth from the characters’ flashbacks to what is currently happening to them (and some awkward scenes where the characters time travel to different eras). Even though there is a clear story here, I felt that the constant switching of the narratives between the past and the present were a bit too frustrating to go through since I am one of those readers who prefers to read stories that take place in the present  and have flashback sequences happen in certain points of the story.  It is not that I hate flashback stories, it is just that in this case, the flashback stories of each character kind of slowed down the story for me and I was more interested in what was happening to the characters in the present rather than having more flashbacks of the characters’ past lives.  Also, for anyone who does not like strong language and gory violence, this volume contains quite of bit of both and it would best to skim over these scenes if they prove to be uncomfortable for the reader.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Morning Glories Volume Three: P.E.” is a pretty good volume that really explores the inner relationships of each character and reveals much more about each character and their journey in escaping from the nightmarish Morning Glory Academy!