Review Takio by Bendis & Oeming

There are many reasons I decided to pick up this Graphic Novel by Icon books:

• Brian Michael Bendis: I'm a huge fan of Brendis's work from the Avengers and Powers comics.
• Two female leads: I always like to support books that have female leads
• A racially diverse heroine and a multi-racial family: Same as above. Any efforts authors and publishers make to show diversity is always appealing to me.

That being said I really enjoyed this volume though it does have a few minor hiccups that are prevalent in debut series.

The Good

Bendis an Omeing create a very realistic portrayal of two sisters through words and pictures. Takio is the older sister and a typical  pre-teen who is hampered by her overprotective mothers demand that she and younger sister Olivia do almost everything together. Olivia is the star of this story. She is an energetic, talkative 7 year old who just loves hanging with her big sis =) Olivia is also  the first to embrace the powers the two girls receive and figure out the best way to use them: They TOTALLY are gonna be Superheroes!

The Powers

Do you EVER really know your friends? How could Takio know her best friend Kelly Sue's dad is a frustrated inventor itching for revenge? That he is messing with some strange energy in his basement that explodes and gives both girls powers, or Kung Fu Telekinesis as Olivia aptly names it.

Takio and Olivia make it home only to be later confronted by Kelly Sue's dad while practicing their powers. Of course he wants to capture and study them. the girls escape only to find themselves confronted by an unexpected foe at their own school.

I really accessed my inner kid to get into this series and though I enjoyed it there are some slow parts. The art in this book is stunning and very accessible for young readers. It's also fun watching Olivia design their costumes and come up with their Superhero name: Takio. For Taki and Olivia. However there is a lot of set up in this first volume that may make it difficult to engage young readers. However the action scenes really make up for the slow parts.

A great start to the series, hopefully future volumes will move a little faster now that the origin story is out of the way.