Miraculous #2 Review and *SPOILERS* - Just for the Hell of it Weekends

Not the puns! NOT THE PUNS!

Written By: Fred Lenoir
Art Arranged By: Nicole D. Andria
Cover Price: $3.99
Released: July 13, 2016
Publisher: Action Lab Entertainment
Reviewed By: Dan Mayhoff

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

So as I’m writing this review, I’m doing a lot of debating in my mind. On one hand, I have to realize that this book was not written with myself in mind. It is clearly written for a younger audience. On the other hand, I do believe that entertainment is universal. So I’m going to attempt to review this book by recognizing that some parts and jokes are not meant for me and will connect better with the intended audience. However, I’m still going to judge the book based on my own personal enjoyment of the book. So without further ado, let’s jump into Miraculous #2.

The book starts with our main character’s best friend, Anya attempting to figure out the secret identity of Ladybug, one of the local heroes. She is interrupted by the teacher and is questioned as to the whereabouts of Marinette. She doesn’t know where she is but she attempts to contact her after class, to no avail. However, in one of her fellow classmates bags, she sees a ladybug device. This leads her to believe that Ladybug is none other than Chloe, the local brat of the school. We then meet back up with Marinette after she has finally completed her heroic duty. She finds a note at home from Anya who claims that she knows who Ladybug is. Marinette wonders whether Anya knows or not about her true identity and tries to call her. Thanks to cell phone service being down though, she is unable to contact her and instead decides to work on her homework.

Marinette awakens to find out that she’s late to school. While she was away Anya attempted to discover whether Chloe was truly Ladybug or not. Unfortunately, Chloe caught her and brought her to the principal’s office to demand that she be punished. The principal is initially hesitant but Chloe uses her status as the daughter of the mayor to make him give Anya a week’s suspension. Anya then gets a call from the main villain and is given powers to help her expose Ladybug. The power that the villain gives her though causes Anya to become a villain herself.

Marinette gets to school and quickly realizes that Anya has been suspended but things get worse as she sees Anya using her new powers to expose the principal for his wrongdoing. Then she plans on going after Chloe. Marinette quickly transforms into her superhero form as does another local hero named Cat Noir. (It is quickly established that these two are in love with each other). The two keep an eye on Chloe to make sure she’s safe and when Anya, now going by the name Lady Wifi, attacks they quickly dispel the rumor that Chloe is Ladybug. Lady Wifi then turns on the real Ladybug in an attempt to unmask her.

A fight breaks out between Lady Wifi and our two heroes and eventually, Lady Wifi has captured both. She attempts to unmask Ladybug but is unable to get her mask off due to magic. Ladybug is able to get free and saves Cat Noir as well. Together, the two of them are able to best Lady Wifi and are able to remove the evil influence of the villain so that she simply becomes Anya again. Anya is confused, having little memory of the incident. Our two heroes leave and decide not to reveal their identities to each other. Anya meets back up with Marinette and the two gossip and show each other pictures of the cute boy in their class, Adrien (who happens to secretly be Cat Noir).

Throughout this book, I kept telling myself, “This is for kids. This is for kids. This is for kids.” But it doesn’t even matter because a terrible book is a terrible book. The dialogue isn’t awful but it often feels forced and I’m not even sure a child would find it interesting. However, as bad as everything else is, nothing is as bad as the art. Now, for those of you who don’t know, this is a comic based on a French animated series. The art is exactly the same as the animation for the show. The problem is that there is no weight to the art. There is absolutely no sense of movement, location, or even action. The animation may work for the show but it is a complete detriment to the comic.

Bits and Pieces:

This issue came down to one question for me. If I had a daughter and she asked me on Wednesday morning to pick up a comic book for her, would I consider this book? Absolutely not. Maybe if your child is a fan of the television series, they may enjoy it. However, the average reader will not. There are so many books out there right now that are aimed at children that are well written, drawn beautifully, and have a much higher quality in general. Please, buy one of those for you child. Spare them from this book.

1.2/10