July 22, 2024
Oscar winner Goldberg lends her trademark sass to this affable, offbeat comics series featuring a menopausal superhero. Isabel, a fast-talking matriarch drawn with Goldberg’s dreadlocks and arch glances, describes herself as having “three vices: ganja, gaming, and gardening.” She’s kept busy juggling her artistically inclined teenage grandson, Fury; her workaholic daughter, Emma; and her politico husband, Andy, who’s playing up his long-neglected Latino heritage in his bid for state senate. She’s also struggling through the pains and indignities of menopause: “It’s like I’m slowly bein’ robbed and I got no say in any of it.” But her hormone shifts unlock superpowers: hot flashes become the power to start fires, while feeling unseen causes her to become literally invisible. With help from Fury, who knows comic-book tropes, Isabel becomes a superhero and starts to defend her neighborhood—just in time to face an evil developer who’s about to evict Isabel’s neighbors. Akinboye’s classically illustrative art is simple but gets the job done, and imbues the characters with lively, expressive faces. This unique take on the superhero origin story is told with enough wit and sense of fun to keep readers, especially those eager for older heroes, turning pages.