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Save Yourself!
Save Yourself! #1
What if Magical Girls weren't Earth's champions at all? Aoe, Thel, and Gen, better known as the Lovely Trio, first burst onto the scene five years ago when they saved Earth from a surprise space monster attack! Since then, everyone, including Gigi, whose brother died as a bystander in a Lovely Trio battle, idolizes them as superheroic pop icons. But when Gigi witnesses the Lovely Trio battling a monster firsthand, she sees something that causes her to question everything she thought she ever knew about her heroes! A magical new series from the team behind Pandora's Legacy, writer Bones Leopard (Identical) and artists Kelly & Nichole Matthews (Just Beyond), that's perfect for fans of Sailor Moon and Wynd.
Kindle Edition
First published June 16, 2021
108 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
March 14, 2022
A very YA book that spent more time introducing me to each character's pronouns instead of introducing me to the characters and the story premise. (And way too many characters are introduced. I couldn't keep track of most of them.) There's potential for a more interesting story with these alien heroes who aren't what they seem to be. Their characterization is pretty ham-fisted though. If they went around acting that stereo-typically evil all the time someone else would have found out the truth already. The Matthews sisters' art was solid and bright.
September 9, 2021
This series starter has everything I love: queers, space, and brightly colored art! I’m used to trade paperbacks so going one issue at a time is throwing me off BUT I want to know what happens next so this is overall a 4.5 for me 💜 (way to go Bones!)
August 5, 2021
cute and gay but something about this was hard for me to read/focus on
September 12, 2021
I'm a Boom!Box fan in general because their art is always lively and inviting and their stories and characters engaging. Save Yourself! is no exception. I read the first issue on Hoopla and will continue with the series in which the Magical Girls, specifically Mia has a chance encounter with Gigi and there's some hecka heart eyes when they kiss as a way to give Mia some extra powers to finish the battle that Gigi ran to see.
A magically queer love story in comic format.
A magically queer love story in comic format.
February 9, 2022
This comic is so good amd queer omg!!!
October 11, 2022
2 stars
Let’s start with the good stuff. Like the drawing, which is phenomenal, and the LGBTQIA+ representation, which I’m glad to say is in abundance. Not only the drawings but the colors are beautiful and, considering how many kids ask me for full color comics, trust me, the more colorful, the better. The story is a new yet familiar one. Villains disguised as heroes, aliens from another planet intent on destroying our own, you get the gist. The problem is that the plot gets lost in the midst of disjointed storytelling and severe pacing issues. We are introduced to our main protagonist, Gigi, while simultaneously being told the backstory of our soon-to-be main antagonists, “The Lovely Trio,” through the video game that Gigi is obsessed with. You get the feeling that Gigi is dealing with some serious mental health struggles based on the fact that when her friend tries to persuade her to hang out, she halfheartedly agrees and confesses that she hasn’t left her house in awhile. All that is fine but then things start to move quickly, too quickly, so fast that you can’t really make sense of or believe in the story's progression. It was so fast that I found myself mixing up names and becoming bored because I didn’t really know anybody, which made me not care. Gigi has somehow overcome her crippling anxiety and grief all for the sake of a person she met for about 30 seconds. The Lovely Trio are suddenly bad guys without the reader even really getting to know them in the first place. To be fair, this one was not intended to be a graphic novel but is really just a series of single issues bound together, so maybe in its serialized format it was more interesting? I can say that for fans of SHE-RA and Steven Universe the art is appealing enough to give it a chance while the story isn’t too far gone to make sense of.
~ Miss Krystal
Let’s start with the good stuff. Like the drawing, which is phenomenal, and the LGBTQIA+ representation, which I’m glad to say is in abundance. Not only the drawings but the colors are beautiful and, considering how many kids ask me for full color comics, trust me, the more colorful, the better. The story is a new yet familiar one. Villains disguised as heroes, aliens from another planet intent on destroying our own, you get the gist. The problem is that the plot gets lost in the midst of disjointed storytelling and severe pacing issues. We are introduced to our main protagonist, Gigi, while simultaneously being told the backstory of our soon-to-be main antagonists, “The Lovely Trio,” through the video game that Gigi is obsessed with. You get the feeling that Gigi is dealing with some serious mental health struggles based on the fact that when her friend tries to persuade her to hang out, she halfheartedly agrees and confesses that she hasn’t left her house in awhile. All that is fine but then things start to move quickly, too quickly, so fast that you can’t really make sense of or believe in the story's progression. It was so fast that I found myself mixing up names and becoming bored because I didn’t really know anybody, which made me not care. Gigi has somehow overcome her crippling anxiety and grief all for the sake of a person she met for about 30 seconds. The Lovely Trio are suddenly bad guys without the reader even really getting to know them in the first place. To be fair, this one was not intended to be a graphic novel but is really just a series of single issues bound together, so maybe in its serialized format it was more interesting? I can say that for fans of SHE-RA and Steven Universe the art is appealing enough to give it a chance while the story isn’t too far gone to make sense of.
~ Miss Krystal
March 12, 2022
So I liked this a lot: it's a fun change of pace from magical space girls, where they're actually posing as saviors as opposed to simply being saviors. Which means the part of the world the real good guys interact with treat them like monsters, or are confused by what's really happening, and I thought it was done well. The art is cute, too.
I did have a couple complaints, though. I thought the main character was awfully accepting of the plot twist, given that she plays the games that lionizes the heroes. Like I could see her going, 'oh, they're evil now', but she's willing to jump off Earth and risk everything for a girl she has a crush on and she just met - and who is someone she thought of as a monster for probably years? I didn't buy it: the crush didn't seem that hard, and even if it was, that's a lot of habit to get over in a second.
Secondly, I'm confused by some of the pronouns: I thought someone was named Ze, due to the capitalization but it also may be the pronouns that person uses and not their name? I have no problems with neopronouns, and have used them for people online before, but it's kinda thrown in there, and people who aren't familiar with neopronouns at all are going to be even more confused. At the very least, at least some of the pronouns are unclear on who uses what: I'm pretty sure Mia uses they - and even their enemies use they for them - but I'm not quite sure who uses ze pronouns, or if it was meant to be a name or nickname too?
I did have a couple complaints, though. I thought the main character was awfully accepting of the plot twist, given that she plays the games that lionizes the heroes. Like I could see her going, 'oh, they're evil now', but she's willing to jump off Earth and risk everything for a girl she has a crush on and she just met - and who is someone she thought of as a monster for probably years? I didn't buy it: the crush didn't seem that hard, and even if it was, that's a lot of habit to get over in a second.
Secondly, I'm confused by some of the pronouns: I thought someone was named Ze, due to the capitalization but it also may be the pronouns that person uses and not their name? I have no problems with neopronouns, and have used them for people online before, but it's kinda thrown in there, and people who aren't familiar with neopronouns at all are going to be even more confused. At the very least, at least some of the pronouns are unclear on who uses what: I'm pretty sure Mia uses they - and even their enemies use they for them - but I'm not quite sure who uses ze pronouns, or if it was meant to be a name or nickname too?
August 22, 2021
I love this! Magical girls with a dark twist, beautiful beautiful art (it's so bright and colorful -- obviously the work as a whole is inspired by magical girl anime but it particularly reminds me of the sailor moon background art which always focused on color more than realism) and incredibly queer. Not just queer as in the characters are queer, though they are, but in that it's got a real sense of queer community in it. On top of that, nicely written, great layout, and just fun, with a lot of nods and inside jokes for anime fans (the jelly donuts sign!). I'm extremely hype to keep reading this. (also, Mia can get it.)
Read
March 8, 2022Layla Elsmere is a goth teenager who bestfriends Patrick reasons he doesn't understand and doesn't trust. And Layla's little sister, Verna, tortured by her classmates, finds unlikely solace with Layla's dark tribe outcasts. Ask questions about race and sex, about families and about what happens to us when communications break down. its a shockingly powerful debut collection from a writer whose talent seems almost limitless.
November 11, 2022
A very colourful first issue with lovely representation, but the plot was very light and sometimes a bit disjointed. I'm looking forward to reading the next issue though.
Also, I'm Gigi and Gigi is me, because bumping into Mia and wanting to marry them immediately after meeting them would definitely happen to me.
Also, I'm Gigi and Gigi is me, because bumping into Mia and wanting to marry them immediately after meeting them would definitely happen to me.
Read
June 28, 2021Picked this single issue up on a whim at my comic shop and I really enjoyed this!!! It takes the “star superhero” trope and really puts a turn on it
the second issue comes out in July so I’ll pick that up when it comes out!
the second issue comes out in July so I’ll pick that up when it comes out!
August 30, 2021
Liked the main character, that it was queer and the magical girls element but the art didn't wow me. Will probably wait to pick this up in TPB.
September 2, 2021
An interesting start, I will have to read on further.
February 22, 2022
This was a weird ride.
February 25, 2022
Very very short. Extremely gay. Cute art. Otherwise not a lot of info to go on yet. I’ll try the second issue but this probably won’t be a series I’ll finish.
March 16, 2022
Very cute
April 1, 2022
I loved this! magical girl monsters and queer characters??? yes thank you. The story itself is cute and sweet and all over very good.
April 25, 2022
Cute story, and I loved how colorful the artwork was! Very much a queer perspective, which was interesting to see! It was nice to see the inclusion of pronouns like ze/zir.
May 19, 2022
This was an incredibly wholesome and well written graphic novel. If you want a feel good graphic novel and queer romance, then this would totally be a good read.
August 22, 2021
5/5 stars
Cute and interesting and very queer, with absolutely gorgeous art and unique character designs. A fun read that I want to encourage others to pick up!
Cute and interesting and very queer, with absolutely gorgeous art and unique character designs. A fun read that I want to encourage others to pick up!
December 27, 2021
The art is cute and I appreciate the twist on the classic superhero story, I'm just not taken with it. I think I might read it if it shows up somewhere for free - not going to spend any more money on this series, though.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews