Review to come .

Shade learns about forgiveness.   This is a touching issue, in which she tries to reconcile what Megan has done, which what she can do to change the way people perceive her.   It also comes with a lot of cynicism, and the suspicion that this is another one of her mind games.  

She tries to decide if she's feeling - or if it's an echo of Megan's feelings.   And she decides that it's her, her feeling this, her being freed by apologizing and trying to earn forgiveness.   And even as she can't really explain herself, and stumbles around reality as she knows it, and the reality that other people believe - that she is, and always has been, Megan - she can feel herself expanding.   She wants to try to be better than Megan was. 

That's a lovely evolution, and I hope that Megan succeeds.  

The backup tale is a sad story about Elemental Girl written by the author of Kim and Kim.  I was so excited to see that author pop up here!

So in general, I just love the hell out of this series!   (I got this in paper to cheer me up after that horrible woman who yelled at me on Thursday.)

It's Shade's first day at school in Megan's body and that's about the whole issue.   On her home planet, they've discovered the theft of the M-Vest and are trying to trail Loma's boyfriend, who they're sure has knowledge of what happened to the M-Vest. 

It's not the most action-filled issue, but there's a quietness here that makes up for that lack.   It's more subtle: it's about more than simply a day at school and is, in fact, about what one does without the full memories of the body she's inhabiting.   Can Shade be Megan without knowing who Megan was?

It's about how cliques form and what happens when you're the one being picked on, and of course, it's more complicated than that.   Shade-in-Megan's body is shunned, but she was also vicious to everyone around her before.   They have good reason for shunning her, which Shade isn't aware of yet. 

It's all complicated, almost to the point of being hallucinatory.   Which makes the almost-hallucinatory visuals match up perfectly.  

Onto issue three, which was the last one published - and the last one int his sale.   So far, Young Animals is brilliant.  I may go back and pick up some Mother Panic for a couple bucks, to be honest.   

Loma, an alien girl who has problems of her own - not really fitting in, idolizing an out of style poet who went mad, a boyfriend she doesn't really seem to be in love with, and an inability to really feel - wants more.   She uses this Madness Vest (maybe the same one as the original Shade used, maybe not?) to slip into the body of a human girl, Megan, who's brain dead.  

Except that she doesn't realize that Megan was a bully who terrorized her friends, and even her parents.   Everyone was hoping she would die, if only so that they wouldn't have to live under her rule of thumb anymore. 

So when she wakes up, she doesn't realize everyone is acting oddly, and wouldn't know why even if she did know.   Loma is simply trying to experience something different while staying one step ahead of the madness.

It's fascinating, and speaks to how a girl might not quite fit into the world she once conquered so easily.   It's also not for kids, but well worth reading for a teenager, or an adult.   

So far, I want to know more about both Loma and Megan.

Moving Target is set between Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Leia is still reeling from the events on Bespin, but the Rebellion can't take a time-out until she sorts out her feelings. There's a Rebel fleet to assemble and an Empire to topple, after all.

On the surface, this is an enjoyable Star Wars story about Princess Leia dealing with the burdens of being a figurehead, the inhumanity of war, and duty versus personal desires. Dig a little deeper and the plot unravels a bit when you realize that a good 95% of the moral dilemmas Leia faces are the direct result of her acting out of character at the beginning. Leia's the Rebel who cares too much, the one who won't leave besieged bases until everyone else is evacuated, the one who undertakes super dangerous missions herself rather than endanger someone else. For her to propose a mission that involves endangering not only herself but the populaces of three planets and a bunch of Rebels who don't know they're just decoys seems rather . . . un-Leia-like.

I would be totally fine with this if the mission had been someone else's idea, or if she'd reached some sort of realization herself at some point and done some introspective soul-searching. If she did any of that, I missed it. And after her plan is approved and she's more than halfway through the mission, she just sort of seems to do a 180 because suddenly innocent lives and the lives of the Rebels she's deliberately duped matter more than the success of her mission. Okay...? I guess?

Perceived plot inadequacies aside, there was a lot to like here. I especially liked the little glimpses into Leia's childhood on Alderaan. And another nod to Phil Noto for his spiffy illustrations.