Crush & Lobo #1 Review

 

Crushed

Writer: Mariko Tamaki

Artist: Amancay Nahuelpan

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: June 2, 2021

I am a Crush fan, and while I like Lobo enough, I wouldn't say I am part of his booster club.  Still, it makes sense that Crush would have more run-ins with her father, so why not in a mini-series?  So, how is this first issue?  Let's find out...

The book opens up with Crush talking directly to the reader through narration, breaking the fourth wall in a way that suggests she knows she is in a comic book.  I don't like that one bit.  It makes her seem too Harley Quinn-like right off the bat, and that was never anything I got or wanted from Crush.  Maybe it's because Crush always works well with other characters involved (Roundhouse!), and here she is by herself, but she seems way off.

After taking care of some aliens, we continue with Crush heading off to her girlfriend's birthday party.  Sure we get the uncomfortableness of Crush doing things out of her comfort zone here, like dancing and socializing, but at the halfway point, Tamaki is making Crush a bit unlikeable.  Again, I am a Crush fan, so I know there is more to her but will new readers?  I guess I'm not the only one who thinks that since Katie (Crush's girlfriend) breaks up with her.  It's a shame, but we don't know anything about Katie, so while I think Tamaki wants feels here, they aren't happening. 

The book continues with Emiko showing up, which was a plus, and then we see a message Crush got from her father, Lobo.  It seems he is in prison and wants her to visit. Unfortunately, we don't get too much of Lobo, so I can't say that Tamaki does or doesn't have his voice down, so the jury is still out there.  The issue ends with Crush heading off to spend some time with her dear, old dad, but I haven't fully decided if I will be around to see it.

I was not a fan of this first issue.  It's Mariko Tamaki's take, and that's fine, but it takes away a bit of the subtlety of the character that made her more than just Lobo's daughter.  While the Teen Titans book was far from great, Crush was a standout character because she was more developed than I ever thought she would be. Unfortunately, this issue was a step back, in my opinion, and if Tamaki was going for laughs, she missed the mark big time!  Because of that, this book felt like it was stuck trying to figure out what it wanted to be and never making any move to get there.  It looked good, though, and it was only the first issue, so there is plenty of time to make things better.

Bits and Pieces:

This first issue of Crush & Lobo looked great but seemed intent on turning Crush into the next Harley Quinn... or the next Lobo.  That's a shame because she is so much more than that.  I hope Mariko Tamaki can turn things around starting the next issue because I can't recommend this one.

6.0/10