A Rainbow Brite origin graphic novel?
Yes Please!
Sadly, this didn't work for me.
The illustrations, story, and Rainbow Land characters all fell flat.
I may also be slightly bitter since Canary Yellow wasn't in it and she was always my favourite.
Thanks to NetGalley and Diamond Book Distributors for my DRC.

This colorful adventure is the first in the series and will have you waiting anxiously for the next novel. This classic story told in a new and unique way is nostalgic for more experienced readers and engaging for newer readers.

I'm an 80's child and liked Rainbow Brite, although she was not my favorite. While this did not satisfy any childhood enjoyment, I do think that kids now would enjoy the artwork and story. I always loved Lurky and it is much harder to like Lurky in this graphic novel (he's just not that cute). Would be interested to see how far the series goes though.

I will start off by saying I'm not too familiar with Rainbow Brite. I had an older cousin who had some stuff with that theme and told me it was her favorite when she was younger. That's about as far as my knowledge of it goes. So I may not have the same standards as far as nostalgia and such going in as other readers. The story was pretty good and I liked the art. I have no idea if this story was pre-established or if it is an all new back story, but either way it kept me engaged and wanting to see what happened next. The picture to text ratio was great and I enjoyed reading it and looking at the graphic art. The fact that the girls loved to LARP was fun and pleased my inner geek. Overall it was a fun book.

This introduced me to the story behind Rainbow Brite and will introduce lots of new readers to this interesting story about Rainbow Brite and Rainbow Land. The only qualm I had with this book was that at times it seemed wordy and was hard to keep up with the speech bubbles.

OH. MY. GAWD. How fantastic was THAT?!! My inner 80s child is squealing with delight, that was so good.

And I completely agree with the reviews on the back saying that this work is the perfect way to introduce young readers to Rainbow Brite and to delight old fans back into the story. And what a story!! Intelligent, sharp, witty, fantastic characters (I absolutely adore Willow and Wisp), high adventure, girl power, and miles of heart. Rainbow Brite the graphic novel edition does something that can be quite hard for re-makes to achieve: they've made a story that's better than the original.

There. I said it. And you know what? I don't regret it. This novel is AMAZING.

The back story Whitley and Williams create for Rainbow Brite and rainbow land is well constructed and thought out. It's engaging, fast paced, and utterly wonderful. Old fans will love the moments when they reconnect with familiar faces and new fans will quickly fall in love with each new character they meet. And for those of you who are rediscovering this world with your child, get ready for the cover gallery at the back! Classic Rainbow Brite illustrations will greet you and you'll quickly find yourself grinning like an idiot, naming each character, and then scrounging around in old boxes to see if you have your old VHS tapes of the original.

Fabulous work! Can't wait for the next one!

Retro read that is completely redone and refreshed. This is a beautiful graphic read for kids that parents and adults can enjoy and will not disapprove of kids reading. Graphic novels for kids are too often lots of pictures a few words and doesn’t feel like kids are reading, but the pic to word ratio here is great

Fun story, but the art was so-so. I did miss the cuteness of the original sprites, they were so huggable. These sprites look like Mr: Mxyzptlk with some extra tufts of fur....

A huge thank you to NetGalley, Jeremy Whitley, Brittney Williams, and Diamond Book Distributors for the opportunity to read Rainbow Brite (Vol. 1) in exchange for an honest review.

I requested this because NOSTALGIA! Rainbow Brite was the show of my two-year-old days. I have seen a few Rainbow Brite merchandise items pop up here and there over the years, but recently I have seen it making a comeback, and this comic is perfect for fans of the original show or those new to the world of Rainbow Brite.

While I found the beginning a bit slow for me, that is because I was itching to see Rainbow Brite make her appearance (as Rainbow Brite and not Wisp, of course). I love this new art style for the characters and the sprites. It was utterly exciting seeing two of her different outfits, seeing the beautiful artist rendition of the horse, Starlite, and the beauty and fun of the story has me eagerly awaiting the next volume.

I also greatly enjoyed the cover variants with some of the original character art in comparison to what they look like now. As a long-time Rainbow Brite fan, I am extensively satisfied and excited about this comic!

My daughter enjoyed reading this comic book and it was fun for me to be able to share such a huge part of my childhood with her. The illustrations were bright and eye catching and really did justice to the characters I remember. I liked the strong moral lessons in the plot.

Rainbow Brite was a major favorite of mine while growing up and I'm delighted that there's a new artist bringing her to life. The story is basically how a girl named Wisp becomes Rainbow Brite. Well, probably. We get to see Wisp and her friend, Willow, LARPing as a wizard and a warrior. That evening, Wisp sees some mysterious creature standing next to her mother's car which used to be blue. And that is her introduction to the minions of the Shadow King who is trying to suck all of the color out of his world, and now has moved on to Wisp's.
It may turn out that Wisp is Rainbow Brite, she has been able to use the scepter, but they haven't yet found the rainbow belt.
A nice story, the characters have shifted from my childhood memories but overall enjoyable reading.

Four stars
This book came out July 2nd
ARC kindly provided by Diamond Book Distributors and NetGalley

I will admit I have been a little trepidation about this book. I did not want my childhood stomped on and ruined in my memory forever. But my fears have all been put to rest as this revision of a childhood classics is absolutely wonderful. We are in modern times, and color has been leaching out of the world. Two girls, who don’t “play” they LARP, are warriors both in their minds and in reality. Wisp gets transported Rainbow land and helps Twink to find the color that is missing. This book has action, it has heart, it has my approval. Other things to love. Rainbow Brite is drawn her age. She is covered up, even in the short skirts she has shorts on underneath. She was not made into a trite, or oversexed teen, but stays the brave and loving hero she has always been. I can not wait to read the rest of this series, and hope they keep it going.
#BBRC #MGGN
#GondorGirlGNChallenge
#KillYourTBR

I received a gratis copy of this book via NetGalley.

My thoughts on this Rainbow Brite reboot are complex. First of all, I LOVED Rainbow Brite as a kid. LOVED. It had a major impact on my life. That said, I don't regard it as sacrosanct. A reboot sounds fine by me, so long as it's done well. I always found the original art for Rainbow and the Color Kids to be a bit weird with their body proportions and all. My biggest concern was how Starlite, her horse, would be portrayed, because I loved him most of all.

This graphic novel collects the first cluster of comic books about Rainbow and establishes her back story. I caught a strong She-Ra reboot vibe in how they did this, which is good, since that reboot worked incredibly well. The first issue came across as strong to me: Wisp as an imaginative kid who make-believes she's a knight while her dear friend Willow is her wise wizard companion. I adored the relationship with Willow and her family--it had a wonderful realness to it; also, it's wonderful to see a black family portrayed as intact and so loving. But then Wisp goes home, and during the night witnesses strange monsters stealing the color from her mom's car. She goes to fight them off and ends up running for her life--and escapes with the help of a sprite named Twinkle. She lands in the colorless realm of Rainbow Land, a place at war with a terrible king who is trying to steal all color from the universe.

This is where it began to falter for me. No doubt, the creators of this have to walk a fine line as they try to revive old material in a new way. The problem I had is that they changed the material, but in doing so they often used other stale tropes.

Murky Dismal is the prime example of this. He's a henchman of the king, and in this he's essentially a steampunk mad scientist. His art looks weird-I say that, and I found most of the art to be okay--and he's a pure generic steampunk mad scientist/comic relief. Lurky barely gets a role as the resident mad scientist monster. They aren't like their old versions, really, but neither are they fresh and surprising.

The development of the world feels off, too. The text info dumps in an effort to try to explain everything about how the colors work and what is happening, and it feels clunky. The info could have emerged in a more organic way. While the first issue had me well hooked, I found myself becoming less engaged the more Wisp explored Rainbow Land, which is the opposite of how it should be.

One of the aspects I enjoyed most was how Starlite was portrayed--my biggest concern about the book at all. His artwork is wonderful, and his original arrogance and attitude shine through. I think if I read onward, it would only be to see how his connection with Wisp developed... but I think I'd skim.

Really, this reboot isn't horrible. It just feels very uneven. The magic isn't there, and it should be all about the magic.

As a child who grew up with the original Rainbow Brite I will admit that I was terrified going into this graphic novel! I was very happy to discover that in creating this new origin story for Rainbow Brite and the sprites I didn’t need to lose any of my fond memories, but I also found a new adventure to enjoy!

The only small point of contention I have is that the back of the book mentions introducing children to concepts of Rainbow Brite, which is awesome, but this book does contain a lot of vocabulary that many younger readers might struggle with so be aware that you may need to read it with them and be prepared to help them out. I don’t think this is a negative, just something to be aware of.

Thank you NetGalley for an early copy of this graphic novel in exchange for an honest review.