Mara

In a near future, athletes have been elevated to near godlike status. One of the biggest superstars in the world is volleyball star, Mara. Young and beautiful, rich and famous, covered in sponsors, and with everyone wanting a piece of her, when Mara begins to exhibit superpowers her world is turned on its head. Rather than being celebrated, she is accused of cheating and viewed in fear. Eventually the military becomes the new source of her exploitation, and Mara tries to figure out where she belongs, if anywhere, as she evolves. Doyle's art is character driven and impressively epic, excelling particularly when it comes to portraying Mara's solitude, her power, and her discovery of self. Mara is a comic book full of ideas, some more explored than others, but all of them intriguing. Most prominent is the idea of what being a superhero really means, both to the world and to the individual. Wood doesn't lay out the answers, and his Mara doesn't have them, but just asking the questions and presenting the problems as he does, makes the book an interesting and outside the box tale. (Nov.)