Teenagers From Mars

(Gigantic, 2001–2003, 2005)
™ and © 2005 Rick Spears and Rob Goodridge

Mars, in the title, is not the red planet, but a small American city. The teens and pre-teens in the story are comics fans, but Mayor Wertham and the owner of the local Mall-Mart wish to ban and burn comics for the usual narrow-minded reasons. Some of the cast are trying to accumulate enough money to buy Beyond Adventure #75 and have resorted to grave-robbing Civil War memorabilia and selling pornography found in a dumpster for their funding.

The characters are so natural in their dialogue, actions, and appearances that you will probably recognize yourself or your friends in this book. Every character Rob G illustrates is a fully realized individual. This isn’t like The X-Men, most of whose members could be models or movie stars; these are the people you see when you shop. The tale features anarchy and romance, civil disobedience, humor, high-speed action, tragedy, and, if not a happy ending, then a hopeful one. Highly recommended.

— Charlie Harris

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