The team behind the critically acclaimed revamp of Batgirl returns with an exciting sci-fi action-adventure series! By day, Domino Swift competes for fame & fortune in a worldwide motorcycle racing league. By night, she cracks heads of rival gangs in brutal bike wars to gain possession of a rare, valuable contraband: an engine-boosting “machine narcotic” known as Crush.
Brenden Fletcher is a writer who's worked on DC Comics titles including the bestselling Batgirl of Burnside, Gotham Academy, and Black Canary.
He contributed the acclaimed Flash story to the Eisner and Harvey Award winning Wednesday Comics and has recently launched a Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Pink series for Boom! Studios.
This was fun, but it definitely wasn't a new favorite. The plot was a little too all over the place for me to really get a good grasp of what was happening and that really affected my enjoyment. I may carry on with the series eventually because I'm a sucker for anything with queer ladies in it, but I'm not really in any rush to do so.
Well, what can I say, I’m not that into motorcycle racing, but this is pretty fun. The same team that just worked on Batgirl--Brenden Fletcher, Babs Tarr and Cameron Stewart--go for a little older audience, with a somewhat edgier storyline. Domino (Dom) Swift (strong, dominant, and fast, get it? Or is it that she will fall like a domino?!) rides in a motorcycle racing league. And races illegally, too. And some nights she gets involved with gang wars to see if she can score some of that engine-boosting "machine narcotic" known as Crush. To which she also appears to be addicted. So there’s the addiction angle here.
Let’s see, what else? Not everyone can get this drug, Crush, so there is a class/access issue, too. At any rate, if it is hard to get, and helps you win races and is addictive, violence is only so far away.
This kick-ass girl Dom is also a black lesbian, with a (white) girlfriend, Lola. (You know, I skimmed some of the other reviews that rave about how hot Lola is; okay, to each his/her own, but I would say Dom looks more interesting to me than Lola). Anyway, there’s that pretty fresh angle; the queering of comix proceeds! Thanks to Image for making their contribution.
I was confused about what was going on sometimes, and confused about the nature of this drug, but this is a first volume,so I expect that. The central mystery I think is Who is Domino Swift??!!
But the real star of this series is Tarr! Her art looks anime-inspired, is dark or neon when it needs to be, has lively racing (and other action) sequences. It’s the best thing about the series so far.
I think I may have found a new favourite comic series! I liked it so much that I’m thinking that I may have to subscribe to the upcoming new monthly issues on Comixology! This was fast paced and exciting and it left off with a great cliffhanger that makes me NEED to continue reading as soon as the new issues are released!
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What I Liked
The kick-ass female lead. I mean, this is always a great feature am I right? Domino Swift not only has a kick ass name, but also a kick ass personality. I loved her right from the start. She is definitely one of my favourite characters since Marcus in Deadly Class and Marko in Saga. I can’t wait to read more about her!
The concept. I love racing-themed things. I love the Fast & The Furious franchise, I love Motorcross and Monster Jam and movies like Gone In 60 Seconds. If I could have participated in any sport, I would choose car racing which is hilarious considering I don’t even have a drivers licence. Anyway, the second I read the synopsis and realized this series features motorcycle racing, I knew I would love it right away. Not only are they racing, but they’re racing for a prize. Love it. I need more now please.
The surprises. These first couple of issues were filled with constant twists and turns that I definitely was not expecting! Each issue left with a bit of a cliffhanger or with a few unanswered questions which was a key factor in what made me want to continue on to the next issue as soon as possible.
The pace. The writing was perfectly paced. The twists and cliffhangers were done so well. They flow in the story was amazing. The pace was amazing and I absolutely blew through these first five issues!
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What I Didn’t Like
Loved it all. Clearly, I loved everything about the introduction to this series! The only thing I’m not liking is waiting for the next issue to be released!
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As you can tell, I absolutely love this series so far! It was a great introduction to a new story and I can’t wait to read more! Motor Crush is definitely another win for Image Comics!
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Initial Post Reading Thoughts:
I just finished reading the first 5 single issues that will make up this first volume and oh my god I am in love with this series. It's amazing. So fast paced intriguing! It left me with just the right amount of mystery and cliffhanger. I can't wait to continue reading this series!
This new series comes from the talented team that did Batgirl of Burnside. I was assigned this graphic novel to read for the Tournament of Books that I participate in yearly with other teen librarians in my area, and I’m glad, as this action-adventure/ sci-fi book wasn’t on my radar yet. (This book's competition was Landscape With Invisible Hand so check out this blog to see which book I pushed through to the next bracket: http://ow.ly/EUtN30igMbp)
Domino Swift is a beautiful young woman who races motorcycles for a living as did her famous father years ago. In a world similar to ours, but set in the indeterminate future, the World Grand Prix dominates social media and the economy. Domino is one of the top racers on the circuit, but at night she participates secretly in bike races with gang members to illegally obtain a machine stimulant called Crush. There is an undercurrent of crime and addiction that run through the narrative, with an out-of-left-field twist about Domino’s origins. Many unanswered questions start to build at the end, with storylines set up for future volumes.
An appealing romance is established between Domino and pink-haired Lola, who is an ace mechanic. While currently not dating, the two are still connected and their relationship is accepted by everyone around them. That their relationship is natural and easy is a plus, it’s part of the narrative, no more or no less than any other characters. Kudos for the representation!
The art is top-notch with bold anime-inspired illustrations in Babs Tarr’s distinctive style. The team gives Domino and Lola a fresh look, and the panels and splash pages have some nice variety.
That the volume ends on an intriguing cliffhanger will bring me back for more!
If you liked the recent Batgirl series by the same creative team, you'll enjoy this. Motor Crush is the story of Domino Swift, a motorcycle racer with secrets. By day she races in the pros, at night, she races for a drug called crush in a Mad Max style race. This is where things get confusing. Everyone wants this drug, but when it's force fed to someone their head explodes. The writers establish that Crush is poison so why does everyone want it? But then Domino needs it to live, because she's actually adopted and there's an alien spaceship looking for her. This story is ridiculously complicated and contradictory and we are given no answers. The characters are likable and the characters are unique but there is way too much going on to provide a coherent story.
Received an advance copy from Image and Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
I think I've found a new favorite!!! Let me clarify this a little because I thought this was about an all-female biker gang (it's not). It's still effin' brilliant though. This is about a girl who is a racer (officially and also secretly street racer). She is kickass and brutal and I LOVE HER. However, the racing isn't the main subject of this series, it's more of the means of getting things done and continuing the plot. It's more about an illegal substance called "crush" (those awesome little pink gems were beautifully drawn). The crush helps to enhance racer's bikes BUT our main character has a secret of her own that she uses the crush for. BY THE WAY, THERE'S HINT AT A MIXED F/F ROMANCE!!!!!!!!!!! (incoherent squealing of joy) I will say, it took me a few pages to understand the story because there are a lot of graphics (besides the beautiful art) and I hadn't realized it was taking place in the future. After that, I was hooked. I especially loved the street racing scenes and seeing the different biker gangs. My biggest complaint is that the woman seemed way overly sexualized in this comic. There is a lot of skin showing for street racing (why would I wear basically booty shorts and a bra if there's a chance I'm hitting pavement at 100 miles per hour?) It was distracting that it felt unrealistic, but I did love their style.
This was really cool. I love that the main character is a sapphic black girl and she’s super badass. The art style and character design were both stunning. Only critique is that the story seemed a bit confused, so much was packed into this volume and I feel like that left me on uneven ground. I just felt like I didn’t have enough time to get a good grasp on the futuristic world or the plot itself. Despite that, what I did understand seemed super awesome and I’m intrigued to see what’s in store for future volumes.
Babs Tarr’s art is kick ass! I’ve always loved her work. It has this sort of cake/pin up sort of style that’s so unique and really fun to look at. It’s sexy without being sexualized, which I always appreciate from female artists.
Unfortunately, this story just didn’t quite grab me the way I thought it would. It’s diverse, it’s a storyline I’ve only seen given to male characters and I like that there’s an f/f relationship at the center as well as the relationship between Dom and her father.
I don’t know if it’s the made up lingo with words like “streak” for go and “cranked” for messed up and all of the futuristic stuff like the live streams and crush itself - it was a lot to follow. Instead of feeling motivated to catch on, I just kind of glossed over it.
This could have easily been the storyline to a Fast and Furious spin off starring a woman of color. I’d gladly watch a film or TV show with this story come to life. It just wasn’t as captivating as I expected it to be. However, I loved Tarr’s art.
I might check out the second volume, but I’m not in a hurry.
This was awesome! The art style is beautiful, the story is engaging, the world is incredible, and I already feel super attached to characters and I'm interested in whatever is gonna happen to them.
I hope this gets adapted into an anime or live action movie or something, because it would be SO COOL. It's like TRON: Legacy meets Alita: Battle Angel meets Bladerunner, starring a Black lesbian with an adorable girlfriend and super supportive dad. I loved it. Can't wait to get the next volume!
notes from re-read may 2018: Domino and Lola are a true otp
I love team Fletcher, Stewart and Tarr so much 😭 I enjoyed this comic a lot. I never thought I was into motorcycle races but here we are. this comic is so much more than that too, and it's going places I wasn't expecting but are definitely into. I want more now!!
During DC’s New 52, the monthly Batgirl title underwent a soft reboot following a successful run from Gail Simone, and thus under the creatorship of Brenden Fletcher, Cameron Stewart, and Babs Tarr made a highly energetic comic that is fun for the YA readership. What seems initially born out of a single issue from that run in which Barbara Gordon is battling villainous motorcycling-riding twins under the stylish influence of anime/manga, Motor Crush seems to be a creator-owned love letter to that particular Japanese medium.
I always struggle to get my feelings together about graphic novels because I read them in like an hour and it always feels like a fever dream and I have to actually think about what I have to say about them.
But with Motor Crush I feel like reviewing it feels a lot more difficult than reviewing any other graphic novel. Because so much happens in one short volume and I read it all and I think my brain processed it but when I sit down and try to make words about it to put into this review, the only thing my brain can come up with is,, "pretty girl drives motorbike and also has a secret past." But I will try to go a little more in detail.
Motor Crush follows a motorbike racer and is set in a world where motorbike races are a pretty big deal. From what I can tell, it's a sort of near-future sci-fi world with some new chemicals/substances that have been discovered/made. Case in point: crush, which is a new fuel that you can use to power your bike, except it's illegal in races. And also if a human drinks it, they die. But when our main character, Domino, drinks it, she doesn't. *Mystery and drama ensues*
I did really like Domino and I'm very intrigued to learn more about her past because right now, it's all very mysterious. She's an up-and-coming racer and also the daughter of one of the more famous racers. Except is she actually??? Dun dun dunnnn. I liked her determination and also her ability to act like she doesn't give a shit when she actually does. Also, she's pretty and, as is the recurring theme in all of my reviews, I read graphic novels for pretty girls.
Domino is also sapphic and this volume has the beginnings of what seems to be a second chance romance which has me very very intrigued because the second chance romance trope is one of my favorites and I do not read nearly enough books with that trope in it. Also her love interest is also a pretty girl, which is an added bonus.
The plot of this story is really where it all went a bit downhill for me. It felt very disjointed and I didn't really know what it was trying to get across until we got to the end and by that point it was a little too late for me to be figuring things out. There are a couple different plotlines that the authors try to thread throughout this volume and I think that the way they went switching between those storylines was a little bit confusing..
But overall, this was really enjoyable and I'm definitely looking forward to reading more in this series!
So this started off reallllll strong but slowly I was unsure where it was going. So Domino is a racer who is one of the best around. The story shows off this world where they focus on racing as a main event of this world (I think) and it's in the future so have robots following around the riders doing interviews with them and such. So the world itself is interesting, Domino is interesting, the plot of her trying to win the championship is interesting. We got all this checked off!
Then they introduce Lola and she's great. Then they give times with Domino and her father, and that's great. Then we get to...aliens? What? Time travel? What!? STOP TIME!? WUUUUUT!
What I liked: The human moments, dialog, and world are interesting. Domino and her crew all have differences that make each one separate and different. I also enjoyed the art as it was unique and different.
What I didn't like: I wasn't feeling the alien, time stop, time skip ideas. It just felt all jumbled into the story at the very end and it wasn't flowing for me. If I read volume 2 and it flows better I might change my mind but it got a bit to jumbled at the end for me.
Still worth checking out. It's fun and the dialog is always pretty solid. I also think the world itself is interesting enough with good characters to make me give this another time. A 3 out of 5 and will try volume 2 for sure but just a tad disappointed.
*English is not my native language so please forgive any mistakes*
When I saw this comic in amazon I was very excited to have it in my collection. A comic with a black woman that also is lesbian was very tempting for me. The story is well built and flows very well. At the same time as the story leaves the reader with several questions, it answer some and leaves the promise of a good resolution in the future. It is interesting to see that although the story is about a black woman who races on her motorcycle during the day and risks her life in clandestine races at night, it also tells the personal side of her life, such as her love life. The character has a troubled relationship with her ex girlfriend, who is very attached to her family. And although MC wants to re-start dating her, she ends up making choices that end up driving away the ex. Another thing I liked was the art. The design is very beautiful and the characters very attractive visually, although a bit odd. Definitely a 5 stars. The final Cliffhanger left me with desire for more. I can't wait to Volume 2 be released.
3.5* What started off as a pretty cool fun story became a little confusing. The direction change with time travel and aliens was just weird. The colours were great, I enjoyed the neon pink of the world. The novel itself did feel a little YAish. Good fun if not a little weird and messy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I'm not much of a comic or graphic novel reader but damn, this blow me away. I loved everything about the first 5 parts. Domino has to be one of the most badass and exciting protagonists out there right now. The story is engaging and has some very nice twists and turns. I also loved the artwork. The lesbian love story is a sweet bonus on top of an already great series, I can't wait for more.
I had really high expectations for this and I definitely wasn't let down! This was such a fun volume with a strong female lead, illegal street races, biker gangs, and so much more. I couldn't get enough of the characters and I'm really looking forward to continuing this series.
A beautiful new concept that incorporates three of my all time favourite things: Great Aesthetics, High Speed Racing and Lesbians. Motor Crush took every prejudice I ever had against writers of superhero comics and flipped it on its head. Volume 2 can't come quickly enough!
rep: Black butch lesbian mc, lesbian li, Black side character with a leg prosthesis
dom is Btfl & im most definitely in love w her, thanks
okay but guys. this is a comic book abt a black butch lesbian who races w motor gangs AND there r cool sci-fi elements! we also get to meet her ex-girlfriend so im hoping for sth nice to come out of that :>>> and the art is so great!!!! every single close up changed my life & the lines & colors r just breathtaking!
Very visually pleasing and captivating world. Loved the neon Mad Max vibes. Would’ve been 4 stars but I wasn’t a huge fan of the shift at the end towards aliens and time travel...I wanted to see more on the race.