Liked the story and the art style. Found the bright pops of color intriguing to the eye. A quick and interesting read.

Primer is a fun, spunky book that embraces the odd and gives hope to kids who are powerless. I think this book is a great addition to any library that serves young kids, especially to those in the foster care system. It gives power and voice to those who have none, which is a wonderful and refreshing tale for kids who are often overlooked.

Super fun, super quick read about how your past doesn't define you. Ashely, despite a rocky relationship with her criminal father that put her in the foster system is positive and creative, and her heart is always in the right place.

Thank you DC and NetGalley for sharing this book with me in exchange for an honest review. Primer is new favorite hero. She is amazing. Powerful. Spunky. Creative. And so cool. Beyond cool. Cannot wait for more.

Half of the arc had finished art and the other half didn't. It was jarring to be reading a fully colored finished page then to read a completely white unfinished page. This was hard to read. I read the first few pages and really liked this but once I got to the unfinished parts it was hard to read. I loved what I read of this and I will be checking out the finished copy instead.

The artwork in this graphic novel is fantastic. It's bright, colorful, upbeat and makes the book a joy to read. I also loved the dynamic between Ashley and her foster parents. I like the concept of paints that imbue superpowers. However, I felt like the "how" behind that was a bit confusing. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I know that I can recommend it to many readers that will read it with enthusiasm.

This was really cute and the artstyle was amazing! I really enjoyed the characters and the storyline throughout!

"Primer" is a graphic novel introduction to a new DC Superhero for a new generation. It was more of an introduction to the character with a lot of origin story rather than action, so I'm hoping for more Primer graphic novels to follow. Pre-ordered a copy as soon as I finished reading the ARC.

I received an ARC of this courtesy of NetGalley and DC Comics in exchange for my honest review.

While the ARC did not have full color art on every page it was certainly enough to get a sense of it-and I loved it! Characters seem engaging and the overall story is very fun.

That being said, parts of this seem really quite abrupt and choppy. The ending wrapped up far too suddenly and way too tidy. Otherwise, I still won't hesitate adding this to my library's shelves.

A new superhero is in town. She is colorful and sassy and has lots of guts.
book cover
Primer
Jennifer Muro & Thomas Krajewski. Art by Gretel Lusky
DC Comics. June 2020
Grades 5 and up
Ashley has been living in a group home for a while. Her mother is gone. Her father is in jail. And the various foster homes she’s lived in haven’t worked out. Kitch and Yuka Nolan have taken Ashley in, but they aren’t like other fosters Ashley has had. Kitch is a professor and artist, who is impressed by Ashley’s artwork (graffiti). But Yuka is a scientist who is nervous around Ashley.
Ashley doesn’t realize that Yuka’s uneasiness is related to her work, not to Ashley’s arrival. Yuka is part of a top-secret military project that has developed paints that will give someone superpowers. But Yuka switches the paint to sabotage the project, hoping to stop it.
When Ashley stumbles over the paints, she realizes that they give her superpowers and starts to use them. But the military, specifically a dangerous soldier, Strack, wants them back, and Yuka’s theft puts Yuka, Kitch, and Ashley in danger. Hopefully Ashleys’s new superpowers will be enough to ave them.
Ashley is a great addition to the realm of teenage superheroes. She’s fun. She’s spunky. She’s layered. There is much left to explore of Ashley’s relationship with her father. I wondered about her mother. I’m curious how things will continue with Kitch and Yuka. (So, yes, I’d love another volume and I think young readers will too.) The story ends with suggestion of another volume on the horizon.
The artwork is the same as Ashley: Fun and spunky. The coloriing, like Ashley, is bold. The bright colors just pop off the page. Sometimes there is so much color that it’s almost dizzying!
The story wraps up sweetly. For an action-packed read this summer, young readers should catch Primer.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

Outside of the Archies, I have never really been into comic books/graphic novels. For whatever reason, though, this one called to me the day I was choosing books at Netgalley. I can't say I was disappointed. The storyline was a good one, yet somewhat typical. Ashley is going from foster family to foster family while her Dad is in jail. None of them really stick until she meets her newest family. They seem to really care about her and she is finding herself caring about them as well. Normally, her guard is up as she knows she will probably end up leaving yet again. But this time she also makes a friend and she is fitting in better at school...so who knows? One day, she finds a case hidden away and she sees it is full of body paint...she learns that this paint can give her super powers...but in a limited capacity as she can only choose three at once. Obviously there is a bad guy because, well...it is DC. The art was great and so colorful that i flew through the book, hoping for more. I loved it and I know there are tons of kids out there that will love it too. :)

This was such an interesting concept and I really enjoyed this graphic novel. It follows Ashley, a girl in the foster system, as she deals with her issues of trust and fear about having a new family. Ashley gets placed in a home with Yuka and Nolan, a cute couple that just want what is best for Ashley, but Yuka's job is in a lab and there are dangerous things happening there.

Ashley is a great teen character, she is strong, stubborn and troubled, but able to push through in order to help others. It is a coming of age, as well as a superhero tale and her powers fit with her style. Ashley is a painter and her powers come from paints! it is a very interesting concept overall.
I like that this book showcased a non-traditional family as well as diverse characters, and it was great to see a girl being both scared but strong. Sometimes books choose one or the other and it gets frustrating.

I think that there is a bit of confusion on what age group this book is for, it is marketed for ages 8-12 and I believe that it is good for that group, however the look and feel of some of the themes might be more YA. Either way this was a great read. I think all ages of readers will enjoy this book and the violence is limited to a lot of punching and knocking into things.

I am very interested to see where this series goes from here.

Ashley's only consistent home is the group home she lands in every time another foster family sends her back. She's a graffiti artist by night and her world is about to get a lot stranger.

When Kitch and Yuka Nolan take Ashely home, she finds herself loved for the first time in her short life. Yuka is a scientist and works on a top secret military project that she has misgivings about. The secret project and Ashley collide and she becomes the superhero Washington D.C. needs, but will her over confidence hurt her and her family?

I really enjoyed the art and tone of this graphic novel. It is great to see a strong girl saving not only herself but the people around her. While I am unsettled a little by the portrayal of the foster system, I think that many kids will relate to feeling out of place in their family, homes and schools.

A must have addition to school and public library's graphic novel collections.

Wow! What an awesome new DC hero for kids to connect with. It also touched on foster care which I think is important to talk about. I love how spunky and creative she was while she was fighting crime. This is such a colorful graphic novel that I will enjoy recommending to students and other schools.

I loved this engaging and colorful graphic novel about Ashley Reyburn, a girl in the foster care who finds herself trying to find her place in a new family, a new school, and new friends. Trouble has always seemed to find her, and when she stumbles upon a top-secret weapon her new scientist mother is working on for the military, things get a little messy- literally. These are no normal body paints she finds, they give the wearer superpowers! As Ashley juggles her newfound powers, keeping her secret, dealing with her troubled past, and running from a rogue soldier trying to get the paints for himself, she learns exactly what matters and how to use her powers for good.

I loved the bright and colorful illustrations,, the charming and expressive characters, and the author’s willingness to deal with tough issues in a sensitive way (foster care, incarcerated parents, gender norms and roles). I can tell that Primer and her crew will be very popular in my middle school classroom. I love the portrayal of powerful women in the text, and know they Will too!

A book about a girl who discovers a bunch of paints that can give her various super powers better look colorful and vibrant, and Primer more than delivers in that regard. The art has a graffiti vibe. The spreads and panels are like explosions of spray paint. The story itself follows familiar DC or Marvel superhero plot points. But the book has a captivating and fun energy to it, and the protagonist is so delightfully mischievous, readers will enjoy taking the ride.

This was a very cute Middle-Grade graphic novel. Ashley is rebellious and headstrong, but she is also sweet and caring and shows an array of emotions, not just a troubled teen, which is fantastic. I think her relationship with her foster parents is very well written, and I love how understanding they are with her. This story showed that love always wins over evil. Being a superhero, while not hiding your secret identity from your parents is definitely a new trope that I haven't seen before and it was refreshing.

A nice origin story that had I haven’t seen before. I enjoyed the characters, story, and resolution. Nice set up for the next chapter.

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

The cliff hanger really makes me want to read the next book. My daughter (current 7th grader and huge fan of graphic novels) really enjoyed reading it.

Primer, a new graphic novel published by DC Comics, and created by Jennifer Muor, Thomas Krajewski, and Gretel Lasky, has a lot of positive things going on...

It's a Fresh Take

While DC continues to publish stories about characters that have become cultural staples, this graphic novel (along with the books Anti/Hero and My Video Game At My Homework) introduce use to fresh, original characters who inhabit the same world as cornerstone characters -- but take us in new directions.

It's Vibrant

Leading from the title and cover art, a reader might expect the inside panels and assemblage of words and pictures to be just as colorful and vivid. The pages inside this graphic novel do not disappoint when it comes to this expectation, and this eye-catching design is sure to please.

The Audience is in Mind

It's clear from the content of this book, and the way that the narrative flows, that both a youthful and older audience are in mind. This title would fit well on a classroom shelf, and the creative team has crafted a story that's appealing and accessible.

Many thanks to DC Comics for providing a free copy of this book for review.