Article by John Hammond
A new DC YA graphic novel is set to introduce us to the daughter of Starfire. Titled ‘I Am Not Starfire‘ will introduce Mandy Koriand’r to the DC Universe. This new graphic novel will see Starfire struggling to connect with her daughter, who is the complete opposite of her mother. Mandy is anti-social, a goth and a young girl who is sick to death of all the questions aimed at her from fans of her mother’s adventures with the Teen Titans.
This leads her to change her image, dye her hair black and steer well away from crowds. She does however, have her best friend, Lincoln and her crush, Claire. As she begins to open up to Claire, Starfire‘s past comes back to haunt them both.
The official description reads as follows:
Seventeen-year-old Mandy Koriand’r is not her mother. Daughter of Starfire and high school outcast, Mandy is constantly trying to get out from under the shadow of her bright, bubbly, scantily clad, and famous mother. Dyeing her bright orange hair black and sticking close to her best friend, Lincoln, Mandy spends her days at school avoiding Teen Titans superfans and trying to hide her feelings for the gorgeous, popular, and perfect Claire. And while Mandy usually avoids spending too much time with her alien mother, she’s been particularly quiet as she’s keeping one major secret from her: Mandy walked out of her S.A.T.
While Mandy continues to tell Lincoln her plans of moving to France to escape the family spotlight and not go to college, she secretly hides a fear of not knowing her identity outside of just being the daughter of a superhero and who she will become. But when she is partnered with Claire to work on a school project, their friendship develops into something more and a self-confidence unknown to Mandy begins to bloom. Claire seems to like Mandy for being Mandy, not the daughter of Starfire.
But when someone from Starfire’s past comes to disrupt Mandy’s future, Mandy must finally make a choice: give up before the battle has even begun, or step into the unknown and risk everything. I Am Not Starfire is a story about mother-daughter relationships, embracing where you come from while finding your own identity, and learning to be unafraid of failing, if it was even failing in the first place.
An ‘I Am Not Starfire’ first look has already been welcomed with a good response on social media. This has not only been for the concept of the story but also for its promise of more LGBTQ+ representation and body positivity.
This sounds like it could be a return to form in the YA Graphic Novel area for DC after what could be considered as a few lesser quality efforts. What do you think, is this something that you’ll be picking up? Please let us know.
‘I Am Not Starfire’ by Mariko Tamaki and Yoshi Yoshitani is due to be released in August 2021.
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