‘Flavor Girls’ #1’s fun premise runs out of steam

Flavor Girls is pretty, but it might give you a tummy ache.

July 13, 2022

Loic Locatelli-Kournwsky (the creator behind Persephone) and Eros De Santiago have teamed up for a story of galactic proportions.

SPOILERS AHEAD for Flavor Girls #1!

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Earth is under attack from aliens! But a group of female superheroes, the Flavor Girls, have arrived to save the universe. However, a young girl, Sara, finds herself faced with becoming the next member of the Sacred Fruit Guardians of Earth. Will she accept the call to adventure and save the world?

First of all: the art is stunning. The cartoony/manga style pops is fluid and features just the right amount of details to draw you into the world. Locatelli-Kournwsky’s sense of composition and graphic design makes for some stunning images, both on earth and in the stars.

Going hand in hand with the visuals are the colors by Eros De Santiago. Every scene has a distinct, soft, pastel palette. Scenes of quiet domesticity feel comforting because of elegant whites and greens. Epic space scenes utilize a clash between blues and reds. Pinks and purples help accentuate scenes with superhuman displays of power.

As for the story, it’s a mixed bag.

Sara, our main character, is a fairly standard archetype. Like most heroes, she’s a reluctant hero who becomes a “fish out of water” in the hero world. Thankfully, what keeps her from being rote is her very human anxiety. We believe and understand when she declares she’s not ready to become a superhero. There’s a great, amusing moment when she first receives her powers, and instead of immediately rising to the occasion like most cliche stories, she flops down on the ground in exhausted defeat. Beats like these help us relate to the character.

Sadly, the story and certain visual choices keep the series from fulfilling the premise. Clocking in at over fifty pages, this first issue is so long and dull in the latter half, it kills the momentum built up from the first thirty or so pages.

After receiving her powers, Sara is left to decide whether she wants to officially join the Flavor Girls. It’s at this point the issue should have stopped, leaving us wanting more. However, it continues for twenty more pages. The plot beats are necessary because they sow seeds of of conflict, but it goes on too long and the art does the beats a disservice.

As the dialogue ramps up, the panels become smaller to fit all the panels. Unfortunately, even when a significant beat happens, the panels remain small, necessitating less interesting compositions. Further momentum is stifled when the panels and compositions don’t reflect the story’s impact.

On another note, the aliens at the center of this story are lacking. They destroy Earth repeatedly, but we never feel the true impact of their destruction (sorta like a Marvel movie). While the aliens’ organic design is striking, the monsters look more cute than anything else. We only encounter alien foot-soldiers in this first issue, however – I wonder if a main alien antagonist would be more compelling.

Overall, the premise is fun and has the makings of an empowering story for girls. Yet, the first issue runs out of steam and overloads itself with the wrong details. Hopefully the next issues make for a well-rounded adventure.