Morning Glories, Vol. 5: Tests

Morning Glories

by Nick Spencer, Joe Eisma, Rodin Esquejo (Illustrator)

The Glories are scattered, The Faculty broken, and The Truants on the attack! Collecting the explosive, mind-bending Season 2 premiere event, "Tests." Collects Morning Glories #26-29.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Mystery, Fantasy, Horror, Fiction, Young Adult

136 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2013

About the author

Librarian Note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

Nick Spencer is a comic book writer known for his creator-owned titles at Image Comics (Existence 2.0/3.0, Forgetless, Shuddertown, Morning Glories), his work at DC Comics (Action Comics, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents), and for his current work at Marvel Comics (Iron Man 2.0, Ultimate Comics: X-Men).

Reviews

[Jeff Raymond · Rating 3 out of 5]

Man, I don't know.

This was brilliant for a time. Perhaps still is. For whatever reason, though, it's utterly losing me. Part of it is the artwork that makes it rather hard to keep characters straight, but a lot of it, too, is the somewhat convoluted plot that's trying to maybe be a bit too clever. I'm still on the fence, but, to its credit, the story appears to be starting to straighten out a bit. We'll see.

[Elena · Rating 5 out of 5]

I NEED SOME ANSWERS!

[Neko · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brilliant GR just ate my review...I forgot to copy it because I just did..urgh..


SO...Series 2 of Morning Glories do you provide me with any answers about the first series!? NO!!! *head bangs against wall*

So..Series 2 of Morning Glories do yo provide me with new characters and a different plotline from series 1!? YES!!! *bangs head against wall*

So...Will you actually provide me with any answers about anything OR are you going to be like LOST and "pretend" you'll provide me with answers and never really do?! --I have a bad feeling this is how series 2 will end up.

If the artwork wasn't so "charming" and eye catching I think I would of dropped this series before series 1 even ended....I'm giving it until the end of two to provide me with some answers...But I have to say my hope this will happen is really slim going by what happened beforehand.

[Baal Of · Rating 2 out of 5]

So fucking frustrating. In this volume there doesn't seem to be even a glimmer of hope that anything will ever make any sense. More questions. More interspersed panels jumping around in time, some of which refer to earlier events, but damned if I can remember what time period they are supposed to be, and I don't have older volumes on hand to reference, and some of which reference events I haven't yet seen. Maybe? Who the fuck knows. The art is frustrating too. Some of it is rather nice, but then there are other panels where it seems like the bodies are distorted in such a way that it can't just be a stylistic choice; where it seems like the artist doesn't actually understand perspective or anatomy at all. In one panel, one of the characters looked like he had a fore-shortened arm like a T-Rex. Or maybe that was in the previous volume. Again, I don't fucking know. The timeline on this thing is so unnecessarily convoluted, that I've pretty much given up trying to keep it straight. One more volume to go, that I've already checked out, so I'll blunder through, but if this trajectory continues, I'll be done after that.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once again coming back to this series and still feeling lost while reading it.

[Baba · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collects Morning Glories #26-29 after the maximum entertainment and peak at the end of Morning Glories, Vol. 4: Truants there's a time for regrouping and further labyrinths and layers of mystery added. Amazon reviewers hit the right note bemoaning the plot become overly complex, although the comic books I originally read had have 2-3 page extra sections analysing the content, I'm not sure if my graphic novels do? 8 out of 12.

[Irena BookDustMagic · Rating 5 out of 5]

WARNING: Concentration at highest required! Otherwise, you might get lost in time...

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do like this series but I wish we could get our answers questioned. I get that this has ten volumes and I am only on volume five but it seems like they could make an effort to answer some questions even if they introduce new ones.

I will be continuing this but probably not right away. Possibly I will pick it back up in October though.

[Brylliams · Rating 5 out of 5]

A slimmer read, with more explanations. We're getting closer to the truth, but I feel there's a ways to go. A solid introduction to Season 2. Excited to keep going.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the first "Season" of Morning Glories, though I became increasingly confused towards the end, wondering if the writer was falling prey to what has befallen so many TV series writers who end up spinning too many plot threads to ever gather them back in.

I just read the first collected volume of Season Two after a gap of several months, and boy is it confusing if you don't immediately remember who everyone is and what they were doing last. In other words, read this series from the beginning or don't bother.

So, we ended "Season One" with a new batch of kids at Morning Glory Academy - dubbed the "Truants" - appearing as a B-team to our original cast. Like the first six main characters, the Truants each have their back story with mysterious pasts and secrets within secrets and shocking revelations and so on. The most interesting is Irina, the crazy sniper, who apparently is leading a rebellion against the Faculty. But as usual, the story jumps and twists too rapidly to ever be sure who we should be rooting for.

We have time travel, people who are dead but not really except maybe, and everyone still talking cryptically about big reveals that never quite get revealed, or if they are, they only reveal even more mysteries.

The artwork is still very nice and eye-popping, and it's still interesting, but it's harder to stay invested when every issue seems to be another random assortment of plot twists the writer is pulling out of his ass. But lots of good series have ups and down, so I'll keep going in the hopes that there is a payoff ahead.

ETA: And reading other reviews, it's not just me. Yeah, it seems like all the fans are just getting confused at this point.

[Melissa Chung · Rating 3 out of 5]

Where vol 4 gave us some back story, this volume too gave back story, but in a very confusing way. My husband said I'm just not a good time travel reader because I don't know what the hell is going on. Is the dad God? Is he alive? Who are the daughters really talking to. Is Georgina really the sister? I mean we find that out in Volume 4, but I'm so so confused especially with the whole Casey story line because she kind of looked like Georgina. Some one help me figure all this out lol.

[Mike Jorgensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somehow I find this to be a page-turner despite having very little idea what is going on. Obviously, I'm still enjoying myself, but the plot seems to be spiraling in circles rather than ever reaching a point of clarity. That being said, the series is only half-finished so I'm going to continue to trust that they know where they're going and all, or most, of what I've read will make sense.

[Fr. Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series is pretty confusing, but I keep reading. I'm entertained and I don't get it at the same time. This was kind of dry compared to the other volumes, but I sense it's going to get better.

[BookCupid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prepare for the craziest chess metaphor.

I'm glad to say that this volume finally answer a lot of questions as to where their powers come from, as well as who Casey really is. Shocking!

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two books were mostly told in wordless, hard to follow panels, and at the same time both a lot has happened and very little has happened.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 stars until the end...and then insta extra star because of the cliffhanger/ending.

The story:

So, I think I'm finally starting to understand the time traveling element of the story, so quite a bit of the mystery and past mysteries are coming together, the story is starting the make sense, well kind of. There's still a lot of unanswered aspects that I'm extremely curious about, and by keeping those secrets and adding in more, I'm still interested. I am happy that it feels like it's starting to make sense though, because there is such a thing as too much mystery. With no payout, I probably wouldn't keep reading these.

The characters:

Hunter is finally getting some action, and I'm loving where I think his character is going. He's definitely got some hero elements in a dorky sort of way. I'm rooting for him to stay alive and be a bigger part of the story than he has been.

The art:

Felt a little sloppy in this volume. I'm not sure if it has been like this in the past ones and I just noticed now, but there were some issues with characters not looking the same panel to panel, and it just caused me a little disconnect.


Overall, still really liking where this story is going, and I'm still awaiting the Big Bad.

Also, I still don't know why the students are at the school (other than having gifts (is it just their intelligence, or are they going to end up being superheroes? No freaking clue.))? And I don't know why the Headmaster wants them all together. Seems dangerous as hell, because none of these students seem stable.

[Kaisersoze · Rating 2 out of 5]

A largely disappointing beginning to Season 2 characterised by more questions than ever for readers to try to wrap their collective head around. Even Nick Spencer seems to realise he's created something of a monster here, as most issues end with an odd thematic review, and conjecture on what might be happening within the story, conducted by a fictitious professor who early on states he may well be wrong too!

It's all a bit metaphysical, and to be honest, overly taxing for a comic.

Here's hoping more of it comes together and soon. I'm getting green around the gills waiting for this ride to end.

2 Significant Head Scratches for Morning Glories Vol 5.

[Edward Kaye · Rating 3 out of 5]

What was once a smart and engaging plot is becoming increasing convoluted and bloated. The end of each issue now features a column where Spencer explains the complex mysteries of the book and talks about various theories. I am not a fan of this approach, because I feel that it you need to point out such things, then you're clearly doing something wrong. I'm also not a fan of the self-congratulatory tone of the piece.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally, some answers! Granted, they're not presented in a straight forward way, but there is definitely some headway made in this volume as to explaining a little about what's going on in the series. As usual, there are headaches abound as we get more questions, and the artwork continues to be excellent, so this is par for the course.

[Michael (Mai) · Rating 3 out of 5]

-temporary review, real review to come -

The deeper I get into Morning Glories the less sure I am of it. I know it's supposed to mess with your mind and make you mistrust every character but I feel frustrated. I want to like it. I want all of these twists and turns to wrap up and blow my mind but I'm afraid it won't happen. We'll see.

[waits4thebus · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't keep the characters straight! The artist is getting tired or my brain isn't processing them correctly. Plus, I think the story may be coming together, but we've come this far with little in the way of sense so I'm holding out very little hope. It is probably all just a dream.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

more unanswered questions. but i don't care. i want to know what happens next still.

[Book lover · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm so confused. I need some answers.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

whatwhatwhat

[Ricardo Rojas · Rating 4 out of 5]

With this volume we start the beginning of a new season in Morning Glories.

When we left off the school was in shambles after the outdoor-activity that the students participated in. A character's life what left hanging in the balance. A character that sent back in time is back and another was sent to what seems like the future(Annoyingly that is has not been explained if he was sent to the future or not). I actually enjoyed reading this volume compared to the previous one, because it didn't rely on drip feeding us information. This whole volume just comprised of 3 main plot points with just 3 characters. It felt like fresh air just sticking with these 3 characters and no one else. Not a lot of new questions were brought up in the volume that I liked.

So as a whole I liked the introduction to Season 2.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

There better be some answers eventually or all these high ratings are going to be changed. I'm only loving the craziness because I assume there will be resolution at some point. I hope I'm not wrong. ....unless ....Is the author doing this on purpose? Is using an art imitating life theme. A "what's the meaning of it all" situation pervades throughout the series and of course, in real life, there is no final answer that we know of. Does that mean there will be no reason for it all in this story either???

Man, I hope not. 🤞🏼

[Peter Derk · Rating 2 out of 5]

Probably read too many issues of this series today, and now I feel like this is some kind of conspiracy, like people read this book and get confused, and it's meant to open your mind for some weird CIA shit. Does Nick Spencer work for the CIA? He did run for city council once...did he make it and then really shoot up the ladder? Is that even how that works? I don't care much for politics, so you'll have to excuse my ignorance.

[Craig Lotter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Morning Glories is convoluted, basically a comic book version in the same vein as the TV series Lost. This isn't a book you can just jump into without reading what came before that, and frankly that isn't going to help much either, because everything about the story is kept as obtuse as possible. Not my favourite style of story, but I can't fault Spencer's (as always) easy reading dialogue and Eisma's thoroughly enjoyable, clean artwork, so I guess 3 stars it is then.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Casey's period of time in the past is revealed and Hunter becomes important.

This slimmer volume five felt like it started to fit pieces together (and there are a lot of pieces!). The truant kids revolt is somewhat wrapped up and our 'new kids' - or at least those still alive- continue to be fleshed out with back story. I'll read the next volume.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

This plot is so convoluted and it keeps adding on more questions than answers. It's still an entertaining read, but I want some things to be answered. I'm hoping the next installments will tell something about what's going on with all this time travel and greater good stuff.