Morning Glories

Morning Glories #49

Morning Glories #49The day has arrived. Morning Glories #49 brings three ongoing stories to a head as the student elections, the Towerball tournament, and the Science Fair all occur in the first-half of the two-part season finale. While both Casey and Daramount assume Ike cheated to allow Casey’s unexpected win, the comic teases something else by tying Casey’s speech, her fainting spell, the Cylinder, and the election results all together in something far complicated that stuffing a ballot box.

Just as unlikely as Casey’s win, Guillaume‘s plan to do the impossible and win Towerball with the Blue Team is equally successful suggesting fallout for both parties in next month’s issue.

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Morning Glories #48

Morning Glories #48The student elections finally come around in the latest issue of Morning Glories which plays on a running theme of the comic concerning perspective and how it effects what we know to be true.

In the first instance we’re give a flashback to Casey‘s time as Ms. Clarkson and her realization that, in the most unusual way, she really did cheat to beat out out Isabel at the science fair. The main story of the issue, the debate between Casey and Isabel in front of the student body, plays on these same themes. While Casey’s hate-fueled platform promises change, Isabel attacks her rival’s naivete at how the academy really works even going so far as to suggest Casey might be the school’s biggest problem.

While Casey sees herself as the white knight to take down Morning Glories Academy Morning Glories #48 paints a far different version of the character through Isabel’s speech. Is Casey’s individualism as dangerous to the collective whole of the Academy? If it is, isn’t that a good thing? Or, as Isabel states, is Casey’s quick temper likely to lead them all down a dangerous and destructive path?

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Morning Glories #45

Morning Glories #45Teased in an earlier issue, Morning Glories #45 offers Jade‘s resurrection of her mother following a traffic accident and the fallout that event which haunts her to this day. Much like “After Life” from the Sixth Season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer the latest issue centers around the double-edged sword of returning someone to life who doesn’t wish to be taken from their eternal rest and reinserted unnaturally into the world.

Discussion of these ideas is brought about by Guillaume who lets Jade in on a bit of Jun’s (really Hisao) plan and her unfortunate role in it. Despite his pleas to bring Hisao (really Jun) back from the dead, Jade is forced to decline understanding all too well how such a “gift” would be received based on her mother’s reaction.

Since we’ve already seen multiple sightings of an older Jade helping to usher various characters onto the right path we can be confident she’s not going to be Jun’s sacrifice. Nor does she appear willing to bring back Hisao on her own, but if bringing back a loved one turns them into an enemy I have to wonder what bringing back an enemy might result in. Worth a look.

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Morning Glories Volume 8

Morning Glories Volume 8“Assembly” opens up a new path for Casey Blevins with Morning Glories #39‘s introduction of her old rival Isabel and the idea of running for student president to earn access to the school’s elusive Director. Although initially against the idea, Casey comes to see the wisdom in such a move.

The latest volume of Morning Glories also gives us the arrival of Oliver Simon and Ellen Richmond and begins to define the characters of Vanessa and her brother Ian. Vanessa and Ellen’s story continues to grow in importance in the comic’s most recent issues while Ian’s odd nature suggests he’ll have an important role to play before all is said and done.

We also get the introduction of the school’s unique sport Towerball which another of the students plans, like Casey, to use for his own ends to stand-up to the faculty. Whether or not any of them are successful, this volume begins to see various characters banding together in different ways to fight back against the oppressive authority of the school. But when you’re dealing with fate, gods, and weird mysticism do they really have a chance? Worth a look.

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Morning Glories #44

Morning Glories #44The latest issue of Morning Glories returns to the unique relationship of Vanessa and her mother Ellen who, as far as we know, are the only mother-daughter combination allowed within the walls of Morning Glory Academy. Why this is the case remains a mystery, but what the issue is clear about is the faculty’s insistence on breaking, or at least weakening, the ties between mother and daughter despite going to all the trouble to allow their reunion.

Although the issue alludes to the equally odd, but less emotional, relationship between Oliver and Ian, the comic is primarily concerned with mother and daughter and the efforts Ellen took to protect Vanessa from ending up a the Academy before Ms. Clarkson‘s intervention.

Like pretty much every other student in the school Vanessa is a puzzle piece that doesn’t quite yet fit. Why is she important enough to (at least partially) mollify Ellen? And why was it necessary for Casey, under the guise of Clarkson, to make sure both mother and daughter made it safely to the school? Worth a look.

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