MECH CADET YU VOLUME 1 review

(Review by Melody Werner)
Mech Cadet Yu is a now ongoing (at time of writing, this had just been announced) all-ages sci-fi series published by BOOM! Studios. Written by Greg Pak and illustrated by Takeshi Miyazawa, it recently finished its first 4 issue arc and was upgraded to an ongoing title. I've had my eye on this one since the first issue released and today, I blitzed through the first arc. So, is this a good title deserving of the upgrade? A bit.

Miyazawa's art is pretty nice, although I think some of the human faces are a bit off. It's no Amulet or The Little Red Wolf when it comes to visuals, but it is pleasing enough. The character designs are fantastic, even if the Sharg (the series antagonists) are really just giant space crabs, they still look cool. The covers are slick. The panel-to-panel reading flow is solid. The action sequences, like much of the series, leave much to be desired. For a series with mechs as the subject matter, I expect--well--more. Mech fights should be these big, titanic things, but in MCY they're just... eh. They exist, but nothing really happens. Normally I'd think "Well, the existence of mechs makes this action inherently more awesome than any series without mechs, because they're mechs", but that rule is proven false considering series like The Spider and Green Arrow: Rebirth which are way more kinetic and exciting in their portrayals of action. The coloring, by the always wonderful Triona Farrell, is, well, wonderful.

The story of Mech Cadet Yu is very rudimentary and, unfortunately, is a bit dull in its execution. All-ages series don't necessarily have to have these big character arcs or narrative complexities, but I do expect any I read to be compelling in execution with good characters. I read this coming hot off Pride of Baghdad while looking for something airy and whewee! The difference between this and that in terms of writing is utterly chasmic. Beyond chasmic. Contrast this with other series in its field and boy, the comparison will not be pretty for MCY. I think of Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong or Amulet or Anya's Ghost when I think of truly great all-ages titles, and MCY is dwarfed by them many times over. None of these characters have any real personality, so the series lacks weight. And yet I felt as though, while reading, that it was expected to be emotionally attached to any of these characters, but I barely remember their names not even an hour later! Jessica? Sanford? Olivetti? Takeshi--oh wait, that's the artist. I don't hate any of the characters, but they lack any depth or personality for anything to work as it should. The dialogue is pretty solid, I chuckled a few times.

Overall, Mech Cadet Yu is not a bad series, but it's not a good one either. It's middling. However, it has a lot of potential, and with more time I could see it evolving into something special. In this expanded run, I would like to see these characters fleshed out more, a greater emphasis on the actual mechs, and a greater injection of humor into it. For now, Mech Cadet Yu is an okay read which kids may enjoy, but older readers will find wanting in many areas. Mech Cadet Yu volume 1 gets a 7/10.

Decent

Summary:
A very middling all-ages series that is patently forgettable, but has a lot of potential and isn't gonna make you grind your teeth at bad writing or anything. The strongest thing is by far the art.

(originally posted: 1/6/2018)