Gen 13 #13

Gen 13 #13
So, apparently that was our gang, or most of them anyways, fighting zombies at the chik'n'go in the last issue of Welcome to Tranquility. As much as Gail Simone seems to keep coming up with great new stories for that title, this title seems to be puttering along in idle. Perhaps that's why Gail decided to resolve the incredible long subplot in one fell swoop this issue, essentially clearing the slate for the kids to get on with having adventures...although, while I'm positive that's not what she intended, she's actually erased quite a lot of the heart from the series as well. One of the things that bonded these children together was the fact that they were in similar peril. Now, with that peril removed, although this is almost certainly not Gail's intention, it seems to me that the Gen13 kids are sticking together merely through...inertia? Sure, there are shared experiences. But unfortunately none of those made enough of an emotional impact on me for me to entirely understand why they take it so personally. Had they actually been age accelerated like their Gen14 counterparts, I'd understand - they hadn't lived full lives, so, in their vastly limited experience these emotional moments were all they knew. However, each of these kids had a life before becoming Gen-active. They've not been together for all that long. Am I making too much of this? Am I forgetting what it was like to be a teenager? I don't think so. However, your mileage may vary.

It does however, feel most definitely a mistake to break Roxy up with her Tranquility boyfriend. She seemed poised for some real emotional depth, and it seems instead as if Gail decided to just drop that entire plot and move on. After all, taking the kids to New York is essentially clearing the slate of all positive external developments that have entered the kids' lives.

Personally, I could have done with a full-on crossover between this title and Welcome to Tranquility, instead of the merely one panel the current WtT arc received in this issue. And I'd have preferred for the kids to stay in Tranquility for a while, having adventures in the context of a larger community, to give the societal relations aspect of their personalities a chance to flourish. Plus, it may have added to the readership on both titles.

I do trust Gail. I'm just not sure where she's meant to be going with these kids. Sadly, EH.