Takio 1

Takio (Books) #1

by Brian Michael Bendis, Michael Avon Oeming, Olivia Bendis (Creator)

Two sisters in a multi-racial, adoptive family are driving each other insane!

Their overprotective mother makes them walk to school together, eat lunch together and play together.

They can't get away from each other!

But when a one-of-a-kind, once-in-a-lifetime accident gives them real-life superpowers, these two sisters become the first actual superheroes in the entire world. And it is awesome!

Now the sisters have to learn to get along so they can save the world and get home by six...or they are so grounded.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Superheroes, Fiction, Young Adult, Fantasy, Graphic Novels Comics

96 pages, Hardcover

First published March 16, 2011

About the author

A comic book writer and erstwhile artist. He has won critical acclaim (including five Eisner Awards) and is one of the most successful writers working in mainstream comics. For over eight years Bendis’s books have consistently sat in the top five best sellers on the nationwide comic and graphic novel sales charts.

Though he started as a writer and artist of independent noir fiction series, he shot to stardom as a writer of Marvel Comics' superhero books, particularly Ultimate Spider-Man.

Bendis first entered the comic world with the "Jinx" line of crime comics in 1995. This line has spawned the graphic novels Goldfish, Fire, Jinx, Torso (with Marc Andreyko), and Total Sell Out. Bendis is writing the film version of Jinx for Universal Pictures with Oscar-winner Charlize Theron attached to star and produce.

Bendis’s other projects include the Harvey, Eisner, and Eagle Award-nominated Powers (with Michael Avon Oeming) originally from Image Comics, now published by Marvel's new creator-owned imprint Icon Comics, and the Hollywood tell-all Fortune and Glory from Oni Press, both of which received an "A" from Entertainment Weekly.

Bendis is one of the premiere architects of Marvel's "Ultimate" line: comics specifically created for the new generation of comic readers. He has written every issue of Ultimate Spider-Man since its best-selling launch, and has also written for Ultimate Fantastic Four and Ultimate X-Men, as well as every issue of Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, Ultimate Origin and Ultimate Six.

Brian is currently helming a renaissance for Marvel’s AVENGERS franchise by writing both New Avengers and Mighty Avengers along with the successful ‘event’ projects House Of M, Secret War, and this summer’s Secret Invasion.

He has also previously done work on Daredevil, Alias, and The Pulse.

Reviews

[Leo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This comic is being targeted as an all-ages comic. Well, I'll say is more a children's comic, grown-ups can't get much out of this. It's a fairly straightforward superhero story, there's a semi-villain lurking around but I wouldn't call him a villain per se, he never posses much of a threat. The siblings' dynamic could have been better. I got it for 4 quids and I think that's a fair price unless you are buying for your kids or something like that.

[Raina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Huh.

Maybe I'm just not a big Brian Michael Bendis person. I didn't really like Powers and this fell pretty flat for me.

Mostly because I didn't feel like there was anything new here. A couple of sisters (granted, one is adopted, and that's supercool) freak out when they get superpowers.

Meh. At least so far, there hasn't been anything I couldn't predict.

I'm trying to decide if it would be a better read for kids who haven't gotten into superhero books before. Maybe as a transitional text between Amelia Rules/Babymouse and more traditional Marvel/DC characters.

How much is getting sucked in by a story a subjective experience?

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good, very readable, but not exceptional in any way, other than being a Bendis book with no cursing.
Seriously, it's a fun introduction to what might end up being a good new series, but it is so much an origin story that there is room for little else. It will be interesting to see where this story takes the reader.

[Nick Kives · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an all ages book, and I was looking to give this to a friend's kids I know (two girls), but I wanted this to play up the either sisterly angle or the two of them fighting crime together, but it really has neither.

Just run of the mil, older sister is annoyed with younger sister, they argue a lot, the end.

[Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, I guess David Mack and Sabrina will be in the sequel? :)

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Takio is a simple, fun graphic novel for younger readers featuring diverse characters. Being written by Brian Michael Bendis, this caught my eye, and it was a cute read, but it won't blow your mind. I appreciate how Bendis features diverse characters long before this was a focus in the publishing world and does it tactfully without drawing unnecessary attention to the characters' identities. Other than this, the book is pretty straightforward. It was quick and cute enough that I will read the conclusion in book 2.

[Kay · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was super disappointing. 2 stars and not 1, because maybe I'm being too harsh? but I really disliked this.

I wasn't hot about the art, the dialogue was heavy and stiff, and the premise wasn't all that exciting. I'm mostly thrown off because I love Brian Michael Bendis's writing. His dialogue is always natural and expressive. This was... I don't know. Too far removed from an actual child's voice?

Will not be picking up Vol 2.

[Kevin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Two sisters, in a mishap at a friend’s house, become imbued with superpowers. And now, the friend’s father, who is claiming responsibility for them, wants them as lab rats and to re-establish him as a premier evil scientist.

This has to be one of the dumbest, most disjointed, and horribly written books ever. You’d swear an idea was pumped into an AI text generator in v1 and printed as a graphic novel. That this is Brian Michael Bendis is just unbelievable.

[RND · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just alright for an all-ages adventure/superhero book. Oeming's art isn't his best; it's a little too askew at times, looking very distorted and flatter than it usually does. I feel like a little more consistency would be better for what I'm assuming will be some kids' first comic. Pretty basic plot.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really a lot of fun - just a quick all-ages sort of read.

I didn't know this was a series, so I'll be checking out the rest, even though this is the only one my library carries.

[Isareen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing comix love

[Ming · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kinda cute, kinda fun. Wouldn't mind another.

[Will Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

For kids/teens, but cute and quick.

[Guillermo Andrade Uribe · Rating 4 out of 5]

7/10, estuvo ok.

[Matt Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll admit I read this because I was in the middle of a move, found it while packing, and wanted something short (that I'd always intended to read).

Takio is a Brian Michael Bendis's attempt to write something that's all-ages, or, failing that, for children. Co-created with his daughter Olivia and his Powers creative partner Michael Avon Oeming, this is the story of two sisters who get superpowers and become superheroes. It's not long, so that's basically the whole thing, ending right about when you'd want it to keep going (the second volume came out a few years ago), but engrossing enough to divert you for about an hour.

Basically, I bought this book on a whim when it came out because I love Bendis and I love Powers, but there came a point in Powers when I really got over it. For me, there's a clear, definitive ending of Powers and they blew right past it. Maybe one day I'll go back and catch up (probably when they announce it's officially lights-off-out-the-door done), but for the most part, reading a little bit past that "perfect ending" made me realize how much I've grown up. Bendis was one of the prominent voices of high school/college for my all-comics-all-the-time lifestyle, and Powers was a series I couldn't ever put down. But then I left college, I dropped off from comics hard, and fell out of love with Bendis in that I had just grown out of the things he was writing. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of Bendis that I would still love to read eventually. But the fact remains that this, while excellent for what it is, is not for me.

However, in terms of creating something that's good for kids, that will get them into comics, that Bendis can show to his daughter, it's hard to do better, especially considering how much Powers is really, deeply not for kids. But knowing that this exists, and that I can give it to my little cousin-nephews/nieces is probably the biggest overall reward from reading this.

[Wandering Librarians · Rating 3 out of 5]

Taki cannot stand her annoying little sister Olivia, who follows her and her friend Kelly around everywhere. One night, Taki and Olivia go to visit Kelly, and end up in the middle of an explosion caused by Kelly's scientist father. Now Taki and Olivia have unusual powers, and Kelly's father is after them! Will the girls fight back and use their powers for good?

Such fun! I'm really looking forward to seeing where this series goes. There's lots of mysterious stuff going on beside the main plot. Taki is adopted, and her mother is incredibly overprotective of Olivia, blaming Taki for anything bad that might happen to her, down to a skinned knee. Olivia says it's because of their dad. Where is their dad? What happened to him? There are no clues so far.

Kelly's mother has also recently left, seemingly right after her father loses his job again. It's not clear exactly what Kelly's father was working on before it exploded, or the full reason Kelly's mom left when she did.

Olivia is adorable. I loved that she was totally in character as the second grader she is. She's all, "We have superpowers? Cool! Let's make costumes! Can we fight bad guys?" Taki, on the other hand, is torn up about what to do. Should she tell their mother? Do they need to go to a doctor? As annoying as she finds Olivia, she's pretty protective of her too and doesn't want anything bad to happen. It isn't until Taki realizes that bad stuff is going to happen anyway (what with a crazy guy after them) that she agrees to embrace her powers and fight against the bad guys! And let her little sister make costumes.

I don't like the art style that much. It's very angular and sharp. At times regardless of whether a character is evil or not, everyone can look warped and creepy. The color is flat and dingy.

Despite that, I thought this was a great start to the series.

[Matt Graupman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A word of warning: this review is gonna sound mostly critical but really "Takio," the new comic collaboration between writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Michael Avon Oeming, is not a bad book. More than anything, it's a disappointing one. With the pedigrees of its creators and it's straightforward but open-ended plot (a pair of adopted sisters are accidentally granted superpowers), I just expected more. Instead, it's the perfect example of a three-star book: I didn't love it but I didn't hate it.

Pulling some of the same themes and style from their previous blockbuster series, the all-ages conceit of "Takio" makes it feel sort of like a neutered version of "Powers." There's still the rapid-fire dialogue but it doesn't have the same snap; there's still the same chunky, angular art but it feels rushed and over-saturated. Plus, it's super-short, to the point where the climax in the last few pages just sort of springs out of nowhere and falls flat. Co-created by Olivia Bendis (his daughter?), the whole thing comes off as a pet project, one that wasn't as well-planned as their other books.

While I applaud any creators that are trying to engage younger readers, "Takio" just didn't do it for me. Probably because I'm already familiar with their work on "Powers," Bendis' and Oeming's efforts here seem overly simplified and, honestly, kind of bland. Like I said, it's not a bad book; it just didn't wow me.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Family can be troublesome, annoying, and hard to get along with. This is especially true for the adopted Taki, who is expected by her mother to watch out for her younger sister Olivia. Their relationship begins to change when both of them are involved in an accident that gives them superpowers, or Kung Fu Telekinesis as Olivia calls it. While she revels in this, Taki freaks out before looking at things realistically. She immediately understands some of the dangers, pegging out her best friend's father as the culprit and the bad guy. Family problems motivate their new enemies, making them dangerous, not to mention being backed by a power hungry organization. Takio has both a funny and a serious side to it. The constant back and forth speech bubbles between the two girls is both amusing and revealing. More is learned about their personalities from their interactions than in any other way. They are two very different individuals, and as such, react just like any pair of sisters would. Their lives are not easy ones, and things are about to get weird on top of it. The style is skewed, slightly off-kilter, and explosive in colour, which is a fair representation of their lives right now. Family may sometimes give them a headache, but they are there for each other, and their love will give them strength.

[Lori · Rating 2 out of 5]

Takio tells the story of Taki and Olivia, who are two sisters- one in second grade, and the other sister is thirteen. They get on each other's nerves but soon, they accidentally acquire superheroes. Olivia, the younger sister, embraces this development quickly- while Taki, the older sister, is a little more hesitant. Olivia combines their names into their Superhero name: Takio, and creates costumes for them. The graphic novel ends with a "to be continued".

"Takio" starts with a reference to poop. Is that enough of a review? It' a childish graphic novel but not one of the better ones. Cheap gimmicks do not get my attention. The drawings were surprisingly poorly done, especially considering my excitement at the name after hearing my husband say "Bendis did this?!"- and yet it still did not impress. It wants to be an original superhero story but follows all the same conventions as the usual ones. The only thing of note is that it features sisters, which is neat- but they mostly look like boys in the drawings anyway.

I *wanted* to like this book- but it just fell flat. Perhaps in the second book a plot, or better drawing, or more interesting characters, will arrive. But I won't hold my breath for that.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

So this is a really fun story, and the combination of younger sister/older sister makes for some humorous contrasts on how they respond to getting superpowers. ("We need to talk to the adults", "No, we need costumes!") It is an origin story, so it is engaging, but in truth not a lot actually happens in this volume. It did seem like an all-ages comic, with a lot of "sense of wonder" about things; however, the "evil father" is kind of heavy and the kids were shot at by men with guns so make sure you are okay with that for younger readers.

I picked this one out because the protagonists are a "multi-racial, adoptive family", but I thought the artwork did not convey that very well. The way the drawing was done I did not think of the older sister as Japanese, it is only her name that would indicate that to a reader, no cultural references or anything. And aside from one or two captions there wasn't a lot of diversity elsewhere, so I thought there were some missed opportunities here. Still, they did mention the adoption in a way that I thought was very sensitive: it only came up when they were talking about families and the rest of the time they were just sisters, with no qualifications, which seemed to me to be an authentic representation.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Takio is a straight forward superhero story though gives a nice tale of two very different sisters coming together after a freak science accident gives them superpowers. The story focuses on two young sisters, Taki the older sister who was adopted into the family as a baby and the much younger, more hyper Olivia who gets on Taki's nerves. It's refreshing to see a story of an interracial family and sisters working together making it a good superhero book for young readers especially introducing them to the superhero genre. The dialouge's a bit juvenile at first with flatulence and poop jokes but later on digs in to the girls' past a bit. It even shows their villains as troubled, hurt but still dangerous individuals instead of simply evil.

The art is made to be cartoony, understandable given the age it's aimed at but still looks rigid and awkward in some parts.

[Ren Cummins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, I know Brian and Michael - and Taki, too - - so before you go off and accuse me of personal bias, I just have to tell you it's more due to having a ten year old daughter of my own which really drove this book home for me.

It's ironic, because where many people trivialize the literary impact of "comic books", this one actually pitches itself superficially most as a children's book - down to the binding (very reminiscent of Dr Seuss) - and yet is perhaps one of the most elegant works I'd read. Yes, it's lighthearted and in many ways very gentle subject matter, but the messages of courage and personal responsibility and family... they are handled so brilliantly here.

A very, truly, wonderful book!

[E.A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would rate this graphic novel 3 and a half stars. The premise is engaging for many tweens and young teens, of a teenage girl and her younger sister becoming super heroes via a sinister, freak accident. (Spoilers Now). The story doesn't evolve much from there, other than another teen girl, who also gained super powers, turning to the dark side in order to please her father, aka the bad guy. I wish there was more to this story, other than small bits of the characters past popping in from scene to scene. We learn that the main characters' father has died and this tender moment feels very much cut short in the novel. I think this read will still appeal to many tween girls who are interested in superhero novels and perhaps are a bit shy to try out the Marvel and DC varieties.

[DeAnna Knippling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Back cover starts out with: "Two sisters in a multi-racial, adoptive family are driving each other insane!"

Ugh, lame. Fortunately I cracked it open and flipped through some pages.

Fun, nicely characterized kids; some unbelievable injustices from adults (when there are plenty of believable motivations for adults to be jerks); some eyerolling moments at the end: subtlety would have been stronger, and yes, kids would get it.

Fun opening, but I'll probably skip reading more of it. I get the feeling that the story so far has been Carefully Calculated to Appeal to a Younger Audience, which goal I support but which flavor leaves me unenthusiastic for more. Maybe I'll get over my attitude problem later.

[Trike · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I had read the first issue of this a long time ago, or perhaps a preview, because the beginning was incredibly familiar. Anyway...

This is a thoroughly enjoyable all-ages superhero comic. It concerns two sisters, Taki and Olivia, who gain superpowers via an accident (ain't it always the way?) and decide to become superheroes, calling themselves Takio.

Bendis and Oeming don't reinvent the wheel here. This is your basic superhero origin story, but it's really well done. This is the Disney version of their book Powers, which is definitely an NC-17 title. Tou can give Takio to any kid, though, without qualms. In that respect, this is a real throwback to the Silver Age of comics.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a really cute graphic novel about two sisters who gain super powers. My main reason for not rating it higher is that there wasn't much for character development along the way -- we got glimpses of what the sisters backstory was, but not enough I think. There was also not enough about their friend. That being said, it was a cute story and I'd read the next one if I came across it, but it isn't one I'm going to run out to get the next book right now. I also recognize I'm not the target audience for this book, and I do think some young adults and middle grade readers would love this story much more than I did.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

While there's nothing particularly new or original here, Bendis and Oeming have created a real gem of a superhero title that works for kids but isn't too dumbed down for older readers to enjoy. This volume basically covers the origin story: two young sisters getting and learning to use their superpowers and the end-twist of the same event also creating their arch-enemy. Not as good as Runaways by any stretch, but it still gave me that warm-fuzzy feel that I got with reading Power Pack so many years ago.

[Abigail · Rating 2 out of 5]

*laughs* I read it so quickly, I didn't have time to mark my status as 'reading'.

So, this was not really a success for me. "Kung Fu Telekinesis" is possibly the silliest phrase I've ever heard. And though story was just as silly. Sure there were some interesting bits, but quite honestly their spin to superpowers was not as original as they thought. Anyone ever seen The Incredibles?

This book was simply not a success for me. What can I say? I'm very picky with graphic novels as is, and this one was just a little too young for me.

[Ketan Shah]

A slight but entertaining read. For something with a bit more substance try Brian Vaughn's Runaways.Runaways Vol. 1 Also Robert Kirkmans Invincible Invincible: Ultimate Collection, Volume 1

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 2 out of 5]

Colorful, positive, kinda fun, maybe a kind of entree to superhero stories for kids, but not standing out for me in any way, really, EXCEPT it is two GIRLS who get these superpowers, so that is important (especially since I just went through a class focused on The Dark Knight Returns that complained that women felt left out of this highly macho Boy book…. so we do need more books with strong girl characters, for sure.