ExtraOrdinary by V.E. Schwab

Charlotte, a normal teen with a 'goth' fashion sense and a fascination with death, made a miraculous recovery from a near fatal crash on a school bus trip but suffers from 'visual disturbances' explained by head trauma. Now she sees vivid and disturbing reflections of how people will die. But one of the reflections is not a death scene but someone who can see her and knows her name. The scene shifts to a fight scene two years ago where the man in the mirror kills someone and is incarcerated in ‘Eon Facility' as 'Inmate Zero'. This is Eli whose back story involves an experiment he and a friend, Victor, conduct when they were medical students investigating near death experience where the subject is revived at the last minute with adrenaline. He becomes “Extraordinary” like Charlotte but he regards himself as an 'Avenging Angel' and a 'Sword of God', his mission to kill all 'Extraordinaries'. 'We are proof of the divine and an affront to God'. His superpower is an inability to die so he is able to hunt and kill with impunity. Now he is hunting Charlotte.

The graphics are energetic with strong colours, consistent characterisation and a good flow of frames. Different points of view are used effectively including birds eye, above and below sightlines and interesting effects like foreshortening and breaking out. An interesting twist on the superhero story with a brave female protagonist though I am not sure I really like the God references. This graphic version in V.E. Schwab’s Villains series is sure to appeal to readers of her Vicious and Vengeful novels.

Themes: Death, Fantasy, Superheroes.

Sue Speck